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Weekend Reprieve

May 24, 2013 by julie · 3 Comments

I am feeling defeated lately.

Not sleeping well at night and then being exhausted during the day is wearing on me. Big time. I have a short fuse, a terrible lack of motivation, and my anxiety? Well, it hasn’t been helping, but I am managing one day at a time.

I am looking forward to this weekend– I have two photo sessions scheduled, Sheana is coming in from Dallas, we are having my brother’s graduation party, and going out afterwards to celebrate. After a busy couple of weeks, I am ready to unwind this weekend, catch up with friends, and just BE. As busy as the weekend is, there might not be a TON of downtime, but hey– maybe I can sneak in a nap or two!

What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

Filed Under: anxiety, Brayden, family, Kenley, photos · Tagged With: weekend update

Outside, all the time.

May 23, 2013 by julie · 1 Comment

My kids LOVE to be outside. They love swinging, going for walks, playing on the slide, being at the shed with Brandon, helping in the garden- if it’s outside, they LOVE it.

As soon as Kenley gets up in the morning, she walks to the back door and says “Go!”. It cracks me up, because most mornings, we don’t have anywhere to GO. We have been walking up to the post office to get the mail– that seems to appease her enough on the days we aren’t running around.

My little explorers aren’t afraid of anything– they love digging in the dirt, looking at birds, and helping in the garden. And dare I say that it is easier to take two kids outside than it was taking just one. They can entertain EACH OTHER! Don’t worry, I am not holed up in a hammock in the yard (although I should get one) but it IS nice to just watch them interact and play together.

This also means that any rainy days we spend inside catching up on chores– we are just too busy playing outside for those!

Filed Under: Brayden, Kenley, photos ·

Hello, Monday {recapping our week}

May 13, 2013 by julie · 4 Comments

Hello, Monday!

Hello to a haircut and subtle new highlights.

Hello to my baby brother graduating college over the weekend! (Yes, he is over 6 ft tall.)

Hello to spring days going to visit daddy, grandpa, and great-grandpa while they plant corn. (This is Brayden and his great-grandpa. I treasure this photo!)

Hello to new favorite things– fishing with Grandpa Scott (my dad.)

The weather is going to get warm this week and I hope it sticks around! We will probably tag along farming this week since the kids LOVE it, and I am hoping to get a few things done in the garden.

Linking up with Lisa Leonard

Filed Under: blog friends, family, photos ·

7 Ways to Bloom Your Photography

March 5, 2013 by julie · Leave a Comment

Today, I am posting over at Fancy Little Things on 7 Ways to Bloom your Photography! Click on over and let me know what you think!

Filed Under: Fancy Little Things, photography, photos · Tagged With: fancy little things, photography, photos, tips

Wordless Wednesday

February 12, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

Filed Under: Kenley, photography, photos · Tagged With: black and white, photography

Dreaming Big

November 7, 2012 by julie · 5 Comments

Image via here

After Kenley was born, I put my camera away for awhile. The transition from one to two kids was hard, exclusive nursing, sleep schedules, and a hard working husband just didn’t leave me the time to pour into it. And for awhile, I was ok with that.

But then I started to miss it. And my confidence in my skills started to slip. And again, started losing interest. That all turned around when Kenley turned 9 months old, I think, and my desire to master my camera came back. And I started practicing with her more (which was difficult because she was mobile!) and I started reading more about photography and dreaming BIG.

Then I went to Influence back in October, and it was like I got my full fire back. And I booked 5 shoots for that month, which was more than I had done ever in that short of a time frame.

So, then I ordered my new camera, and set up a (temporary) indoor portrait studio– and I was really pleased with how my first shoot went with “new” stuff.

I was so nervous for this shoot– telling myself I was a fool for even thinking I could do it. But I was so pleased with the results, that I can’t WAIT to do more.

I have big dreams. Big dreams of photographing weddings, engagements, proposals, births, and of course, children and families. I have big dreams of a real, amazing, photography website–complete with client proofing online and a blog to share the story behind the shoot. But for now, I am taking one step at a time.

Filed Under: about me, goals, photography, photography studio, photos, plans · Tagged With: dream, photo, studio

Hands

October 22, 2012 by julie · 1 Comment

I love this photo of Kenley that I captured on her birthday. Her petite features are so sweet! Linking up with The Paper Mama’s Photo Challenge!

Filed Under: photography, photos, pictures ·

My Heart

October 21, 2012 by julie · 7 Comments

My heart is overflowing right now. Overflowing.

We were supposed to have family photos taken 2 weeks ago when I broke out in hives, was on Prednisone, and swelled up like a balloon. So thankfully, Laura had another date open and we planned it for last Thursday. And then it rained that morning. And it was cold and windy. And my husband was becoming less and less optimistic but I just wanted ONE FAMILY PICTURE OUTSIDE.

ONE.

So we went- Laura was all about it- and the kids did awesome. We spent 15 minutes outside and got these…

Exactly what I wanted. Exactly. I am thankful that Brandon humored me and just let me take the kids out for 15 min in the cold- he was a good sport and as soon as we were done, we hurried back to the car and went to Laura’s house to get a couple others of Kenley.

She kills me. Love it. NOW I have to choose which ones to print for the house. Definitely getting a big family photo for the mantle, and replacing a LOT of photos that are framed right now (goodbye maternity photos!) and I can’t wait! I can FINALLY finish Kenley’s One Year photo book and get on the ball ordering Christmas cards. This is one GIANT to do crossed off my list– and I couldn’t be happier!