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BlahBlahBabble

A Little Bit About Me… (30 Days of Lists: Day 1)

I was inspired by 30 Days of Lists and decided to participate. Today is day 1. I may take some of these offline, but for now writing them here seemed just as easy, and I’d rather share.

List 1: A few things about yourself

  • Wife to Mike
  • Mom to Jason
  • Owner or owned by 4 cats: Mona, Maggie, Lincoln & Graham
  • I have the most wonderful and supportive family & friends and I’m grateful for them daily
  • I love being a Boudoir Photographer
  • I believe all women are beautiful
  • I passionately want to help women feel beautiful in their own skin, and I use my camera to help me do that, I also recommend the best acne scar treatment for those who feel intimidated by their skin
  • I like photographing weddings too, especially when we get to go to cool destinations
  • I’m still working to define my dreams and decide what I want to be when I grow up
  • Blogger of over 10 years here
  • I named WordPress, my only geek claim to fame
  • I’m an only child
  • I tend to overshare
  • I’m learning on a daily basis to love myself more
  • I love to knit with wool and I’m a fiber snob
  • My Mini Cooper (Horizon blue with a white top and white bonnet stripes) makes me smile every time I see it
  • I loved living in Germany in my early 20s and I hope to live in Europe again someday
  • I had a hysterectomy in 2007, and sometimes I still wish I could have a baby
  • Sometimes I’m glad I can’t have a baby because I love my life just like it is today
  • I taught myself to code HTML by hand in 1996 when I had nothing to do over the holiday season at work
  • While I’m better at it, CSS still makes my eyes bleed a little bit
  • I have decided I don’t want to edit this list to make it go in any sort of order that makes sense
  • I’ve learned to just do brain dumps lately and then just move on to my next task so I can get things done
  • I’m a piler, not a filer
  • I dream of living a minimalist lifestyle
  • I find it hard to get rid of things away because I spent money on the item or I have an emotional attachment
  • I want to move into a small bungalow style house with a porch in a neighborhood where I can walk or ride my bike to get places
  • Making lists is fun
  • I want to buy my studio building but I question whether or not I should or can
  • I love Houston but wish it wasn’t so blazing hot all the time
  • I miss living somewhere with seasons because I love fall, winter & spring so much
  • I’ve decided to accept that I’ll be living in Houston for many more years but I’m not always happy about it
  • I never finished college
  • When people say I’m successful I have a hard time agreeing with them – but I’m working on it
  • I want to find a BIG WAY to help women learn to be comfortable with their bodies, but admitting that I have this big dream scares me so I’m putting it at the bottom of my list
  • I want to learn how to dream BIG and then BIGGER THAN BIG and then make those dreams come true
  • I’m still learning to put words to my dreams
  • I am happy.

Hmm… seems I don’t follow instructions well since that is more than a few. Eh, whatever. I don’t want to edit it. I might even add to it someday.

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BlahBlahBabble Reverb10

Cultivating a Sense of Wonder – Reverb10 Day 4…

Brought to You by the Letter B...

Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

I’m truly fortunate. I have a sense of wonder naturally, which is so helpful as a momma boudoir & destination wedding photographer.

With my boudoir photography, I have had the opportunity to get to know women who are nothing short of amazing. I always make a point of starting off my sessions with some time to just talk and get to know each other. To learn a bit more about them. After all, they are allowing themselves to be quite open and possibly even vulnerable with me. I want to make them relax and be comfortable. It is through our conversation, and them letting their guard down, that I get the most amazing photographs of them. I always love the photos that involve laughter. True, hearty laughter, accompanied by genuine, beautiful smiles. It makes my heart sing. I love that I get to empower women, especially moms, to see how amazing and beautiful they truly are. As women, we are often so hard on ourselves. I get to use my camera to show them what I see. A sense of wonder is what gets me to that point – they are the ones that make the photographs beautiful.

Farhana, Waiting

I also love looking for the little things, the small details, and the moments of love between people. It is the most incredible thing to be an observer on the inside of a wedding day. In the past three years, I have had a front row seat to some of the most amazing and beautiful moments. I’ve gotten to hold bride’s hands as they were nervous before walking down the aisle. I’ve listened to people as they shared stories through tears of the loved ones who were unable to be there that day. I have seen some of the most joyous moments in people’s lives, that pure elation as they walk back down the aisle after they have said their vows. The toasts, dancing and celebrations. Laughter. Tears. JOY.

My love of people and the life around us only grows stronger as I am affirmed over and over of the goodness in this world. I see it all the time in my boudoir sessions and at weddings. It is just incredible, and it has made me grow in my sense of wonder. I am incredibly blessed.

Sarah & Sean's Wedding - Alone Time

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BlahBlahBabble Wedding Photographer

Learning How to Dream…

I attended a workshop earlier this year with Jeff Jochum of Startup Strategy all about Selling to the Millennial Bride. Ironic, because it was during this workshop that I first said out loud how I want to focus even more in 2011 on working with moms and showing them how beautiful they truly are through my boudoir photography. It had nothing to do with brides for me in the end.

Later that night, Me Ra Koh came and joined us for dinner and a more informal chat afterwards. (I wrote about all of this before in my workshop review post.) Somewhere late in the evening, she suggested that it was important to dream big. Like crazy big. REALLY REALLY BIG. Dream about what it was we wanted to be doing in 10 years. Dream HUGE. Crazy dreams, as if you had no limits.

I realized later that night, I don’t know how to dream big. Not that big, not on that scale.

Or maybe I do, but the voice inside just tears the dream down before it can fully form. Either way, I can dream short term – a year, maybe two out. When it comes to business, I can launch an idea fast. But I can’t always see the great big picture. I don’t know how to dream on a huge scale.

I’ve always struggled for years with the fact that if I make plans and then it doesn’t work out, I’m really distraught over it. It is why I’m not a big planner in my social life. Have plans for 3 weeks from now on Friday? Eh, I don’t know. Maybe. I might do something. This isn’t a good thing. I know this.

I’m learning more and more how important having solid, concrete goals are – having them written down is even better. Next up? I want to learn how to DREAM BIG. Like super big. I could change the world big.

A few weeks after the workshop while I was in Asheville, NC working with Regina Holder and photographing weddings at the Grand Bohemian and the Biltmore House, Jeff Jochum sent me a direct message via Twitter. It was in response to a conversation that I really don’t remember anymore. Doesn’t matter. What hit me was his message to me.

He told me that I underestimate myself. I cried as I realized he was right.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. So now I’m putting it out there. My goal for 2011 is to learn to DREAM BIG. Then to hone & craft my dreams. To stop talking and start doing. I’m constantly having small dreams, little ideas come to me constantly, and I talk myself out of them. I’m either too worried that someone else is already doing something similar, or I just don’t have enough time to focus in on where it could really go. I don’t honor my dreams. One step I decided to take towards this goal today was to sign up for the Mondo Beyondo class in January. I’m pretty super duper excited about this!

That is actually just one part of my learning how to dream big plan – I’m also attending Jeff’s Biz Clarity II workshop in Denver next month. I attended the workshop in Houston last month, but I hit upon such a big breakthrough half the day that it sort of rocked me off my tracks. I decided that attending Biz Clarity II will help take me into 2011 on a stronger footing then if I did it alone. (Think that it sounds like something you could use? The December class is full, but Jeff said that January still has spaces available.)

Interesting thing about all this dreaming – I think everyone has the power to change the world, even in some small way. I guess it is time to learn that that “everyone” includes me as well.

I’ll be in Denver, Colorado and have times available on December 17th for boudoir sessions. If you or someone you know would like to set up a boudoir session while I am there, please contact me through my photography site and we’ll get it all set up!

Mondo Beyondo Dream Big