SARA & CODY ARE IN LOVE!

Sara & Cody have been married for a year, and to celebrate their first anniversary, they chose to get in front of my camera as an anniversary gift to each other! These two originally met online but knew pretty quickly that they had met each other’s soul mate! Sara loved reading in Cody’s online profile how much he loved God, and eventually discovered in person what a sweet and compassionate person he was, and that he has a huge heart for family. And as Sara says, “He’s also very handsome!” And for Cody, he loves that he can be himself around Sara no matter what, and how understanding she is for all aspects of life. And just like Sara’s first attraction to Cody, Cody say that he was first to attracted to the fact that Sara is a Christian and loves Christ. He also mentions that Sara is one of the funniest people he’s ever met! As a married couple now, they love having coffee dates and spending time outside, so we incorporated a few of their favorite things into the shoot!

These two already have a full family with their three fur babies and of course they had to be included in a few family portraits! One of my favorite photos from the whole shoot was the first photo below of all of them trying to sit on the couch to pose, and their oldest pup, Daisy, trying so hard to not eat the tempting bowl of popcorn in front of her. I just can’t stop laughing every time I see it!

Below are some of the favorites from Sara & Cody’s anniversary session! Let me know if you are a girl in love who would also love to have engagement or anniversary photos as well! You can find out more here.

June 5, 2015June 5, 2015

FALLING IN THE RAIN.

Rhett-Chevron — Rhett is always faithfully by my side, even in the storms of life!

There’s a quote I have in our kitchen that says “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Well, in my case, recently, it was about slipping and falling and busting my butt in the rain. Literally. In life and physically.

This past Saturday, it was a beautiful day for a garage sale. After three moves in the past 2 years, I had lots of glamorous decor I was purging and ready to sell at our community garage sale. I had everything set up on display like walking into a neighborhood Home Goods, and the sun was shining gloriously on my decor diva display.

Well, out of the blue, I felt a few sprinkles on my shoulder mid morning. But looking up, I knew the mist would pass. Oh the contrary, and within 10 minutes, the sky decided to drop and a downpour of rain drowned ALL my nice stuff! Stephen had gone to work, my mom had stopped by but already left, and it was just me, and #poodlechild, by ourselves to start rushing in hauling dozens of pieces of furniture and decor back into the garage and out of the random Florida thunderstorm that ruined my garage sale, and now most of my belongings.

In the midst of my frustration, I kept saying to myself, “Lord, I know it’s just stuff… it’s JUST stuff. I was getting rid of it all anyway.” Yet, that “stuff” was also memories now being drowned out and soaked. It literally rained on my parade.

As #poodlechid and I, both now soaking wet, ran back and forth grabbing what I could piled into my hands to quickly put back in the garage, I took a wrong step and slipped in my garage with my feet in the air as my bum came crashing down hard on the concrete. I was certain I did more damage to my back or neck, but thankfully, all I was left with was a tender tooshy. Yet, as I sat there on my garage floor, soaking wet and a hurt butt, all alone in my crisis, in shock of what just happened, I couldn’t help but let out a little cry, “LORD, really? What the heck? Help me!”

Next thing I know, as I picked my self up, and the items I had dropped, I look up to see my neighbors kids appear in the rain and start grabbing stuff out of my driveway and start bringing it all in my garage. Without asking, they jumped in and helped, volunteering to also get soaked in the rain themselves, just to simply come to my aid and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

I wanted to cry again.

There in the midst of my frustration, right before my eyes, I saw a beautiful example of the Lord answering my cry for help, and how He always provides when we least expect it.

But more so, it was a beautiful analogy of doing life together. Of helping each other through the struggle. Of realizing, we can’t do life alone, we need each other. Because it’s a given, the storms will come in life. And when we try to carry the burden by ourselves, we slip and fall. Because we aren’t designed to do life by ourself. We are designed to do life together as a spiritual family. As brothers and sisters in Christ. With our church family. Our neighbors. In our community. Even here on the internet in our online communities. That’s how God designed it. To love your neighbor as yourself.

The only thing I forgot to do that day was take that moment to go dance in the rain. Looking back I wish I would have. But instead, that day, I saw a different twist on that quote.

Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass… it’s about learning to “love others” in the rain.

I am grateful for the love my neighbors showed me that day. How can we all show love better to our own neighbors next door and in our every day life?

June 3, 2015

THE WAY GOD SEES YOU.

It was one of those days. As I got ready for church that morning, I just did. not. feel. pretty. In my efforts to try another new skin care line for my adult acne, this skin care line was either purging all the ick that’s been built up in my skin, or telling me it didn’t like the new skin care line one. I was broke out to the point where tears just fill my eyes when I look in the mirror because I’m just. so. sick. of. this. battle. Will there ever be a miracle cure? Will I ever outgrow this nonsense? And where is God’s healing power in the midst of my 34-year-old skin that shouldn’t be dealing with this anymore?

(In full disclosure, I have photoshopped the acne away in the photo above! Wink wink!)

So I was in a grumpy mood heading out the door to church. As I came out of the bedroom, Stephen looked at me and said “Wow, you look really beautiful today.” And I gave him the glare.

“What, what’s wrong?” he asked cautiously.

“You’re just saying that because you have to,” I said doubting the authenticity of his compliment.

“No, I’m not, but what’s wrong?” he continued.

And my glare turned to a pout, “I’m just so sick of my acne. But whatever, let’s go.”

As we walked to the car, he reminded me in his gentle way that I love about him, “Sweetheart, that’s not what I see when I look at you.” But, still, I wasn’t convinced. He’s my husband. He’s supposed to be biased.

Then we went to our church and during worship, our pastor felt led to ask people to come down to the front who needed healing prayer. Immediately I said to the Lord, “I need it, but I’m not about to head down there to ask them to pray for my acne. I know people have so many more important things that need prayer.” As I watched the dozens of people trickle down to get prayed over, I told the Lord, “I know, I know I need to get over my woes, and simply use this time to pray for THEM.” So I stood there and lifted my hands and prayed for their healing, because I knew deep down, their health issues were so much more important than my vanity one.

After church was over, as I started to exit the row, a familiar face passed by and said “Heeeeyyy girl!”

“Heeeey,” I smiled back.

Then she totally caught me off guard. She continued, “Girl, I just have to tell you, you look so beautiful today.”

I started looking around. Me? With my face broke out in welts? Clearly she was talking to someone else.

“Wow, thanks, I kind of needed that today,” I shyly said in return, feeling so undeserving. If she had only known the kind of morning I had.

“Oh you just always look so beautiful, so put together,” she continued. “I was just telling my husband the other day about you, how there is this girl at church who just always looks so cute all the time.”

Again, I wanted to turn my head around to try to find who she was really talking about, because that did not feel like me that day.

“Seriously, you don’t know how much this means to me today,” I told her. “Because it’s just one of those days where all I can see are the flaws. But thank you, truly for your sweet words.”

As she started to walk away, I just stood there for a second at the end of the row, and looked up. In those ways I believe God sends messengers, I knew that was a message He was sending me through my sister in Christ, to remind me, just as my husband said, that’s not what He sees when He looks at me. And I immediately thought of 1 Samuel 16:7:

“God does not see the same way people see.

People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In the superficial society we live in, it’s so easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves to the next woman and feel we’re not as thin/young/fashionable/clear skin/cellulite free/successful as “her”. Magazines constantly barrage our eyes with this false sense of perfection, and it can feel overwhelming to try to keep up with the Joneses on what we are supposed to look like. But really, it’s not our outward appearance that should matter as much. It’s our inward beauty that the Lord cares about. Yes, I’m a girly girl who loves fashion and make up, but it’s when I let something like the clear skin I don’t have get me down that I need to be reminded, that’s not how the Lord sees me.

And it’s not how He sees you.

What is most beautiful to Him is your heart.

Are you praying for others more than you are praying for yourself?

Are you serving others in need?

Are you giving to those who have less?

Are you using your gifts for His glory or for your own?

The way God sees you is as nothing less than His incredible masterpiece. And just as He sent me a messenger to remind me of that, I’m giving that message to you today. With eating disorders on rampage and a million beauty products out there, we women are always trying to change the things we don’t like about ourselves. Don’t let the enemy highlight your physical flaws so much that it masks the beauty God has created in Your heart. We all have that little something about ourselves we could nit pick to death that always feels not good enough, but instead, today, let’s come together and celebrate the good waiting in our hearts that is capable of changing the world. Because with God’s love in our hearts, that’s exactly what you and I are.

World changers.

And I believe, that’s how God sees you.

Speaking of changing the world, in the photo of me at the top, I’m wearing my Social Grounds Coffee t-shirt. It’s a beautiful ministry started by some good friends of ours at church that uses the proceeds from selling coffee and t-shirts to serve the homeless in downtown Jacksonville and future cities with the goal to raise enough money to help provide them jobs through future coffee shops. And it just happens to be some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted, so smooth and amazing. I encourage to you take one step today toward changing the world, and check out the Social Grounds Coffee website to see how you can support an amazing cause by switching out your coffee or rockin’ a cool t-shirt!

June 1, 2015

HOME SWEET HOME & TARGET GIVE-A-WAY

First things first. My apologies. If you’ve been a long time blog follower of mine, you are probably getting dizzy with the circle of blogs I’ve taken you around the past few years. From my first photography blog when I was single, to the one I shared with my hubby when we used to photograph weddings together, to this blog, to dabbling in decorating, to my senior blog, and now back around here, you and I have been on a journey through the interwebs. But you’ve always stuck with me along the way, and now here we are. Back home.

As my welcome back gift to you, and to celebrate my blog make over, I’m giving away a $50 TARGET GIFT CARD to one lucky blog commenter! Those details as are at the end… but first, let me open my heart to you.

Dear Friend,

Somewhere along the way, with all my different adventures, I forgot how to blog. Let me rewind. Somewhere along the way I forgot how to blog from the heart. What’s the difference?

Once upon a time, circa 2007-2011, I used to be fearless in being vulnerable on my first photography blog. I looked forward to blogging, couldn’t wait to share stories with you that God was teaching me, and loved opening my heart to you in an honest way as we connected heart strings all over the world. From doing so, others used to warn me that I shouldn’t put so much out there. That I should hold back. Heck, there were even those select few who made it very vocal that they didn’t like anything I ever said or did as a photographer and blogger.

Their words hurt. In that “don’t show them it hurts” kind of way. But deep down, it did.

So I started holding back a lot of things. I began being selective in what I shared with the world in my “highlight reel” you scroll past on Facebook and Instagram, or even sporadic blog entries here and there. I began protecting memories and keeping most things private because I didn’t want those special memories to be tainted by their unwanted opinions. Their hurtful opinions and lies that didn’t really matter anyway, yet I fought to un-hear them repeat in my head.

Then something beautiful happened recently. One of the sources of “their” hurtful words, emailed me out of the blue and apologized for what they had done all those years ago. And they explained it had more to do with them than me. As they explained in their email, I was the just the target of their own personal unhappiness at the time. All this time, I had been holding back in my writing when really their hurtful words had nothing to do with me in the first place. I immediately forgave this person, but then I got mad at myself. I got mad because I let myself hold back all these years when my words could have been helping others like you told me in private emails over the years when you opened your heart back up to me. But instead, I let them quiet my voice. And I got mad because I hate knowing they, all the “they’s” along the way, took that bravery from me.

I’ve been telling my husband lately, I miss the days when I was fearless with my words on my original photography blog. As a journalism major in college, I was a writer long before I was ever a photographer. And what I miss most about those fearless days of blogging is that I learned, the more honest I was with you, you were just as honest with me as we together realized, we weren’t alone in whatever “it” was we were going through. I learned, it’s the messiness of life that bonds us together, not the success. It’s the chasing our dreams and trying together that make us stronger than when we try to go at it alone. When we’ve prayed each other through the valleys, life’s victories are that much sweeter when you have someone to jump up and down with. And for every negative voice, I learned there were so many more kind, loving and giving hearts across the interwebs. Over the years, some of you became colleague friends, some became clients, but more importantly some of you who started as virtual friendships turned into real ones and became the most beautiful friendships in my life.

The past 4 years, I’ve had a specific topic heavy on my heart that I’ve been battling behind the scenes, and that I’ve simply been too afraid to blog about. I haven’t shared much publicly because I was afraid others might judge my struggle in what is already a very painful journey I’m on. I was afraid it would interfere with my branding as I continued photography, tried out an online fashion boutique and dabbled in decorating. I was afraid to acknowledge publicly this heavy topic in fear that it might be this way forever. I was afraid my faith battle with this struggle would be discouraging as I entered a deep season of daring to question everything I believe in, because I’m not at the victory line yet in this middle chapter of the story God is writing. Most days He sees more of my tears than hears my praise, yet at the same time I’m believing a big faith for Him to turn the impossible into possible. And I just didn’t know how to tie together this season in my faith journey with my blog for my businesses along the way. So I have stayed quiet about it all. Until now. And I will very soon be opening up about it in some future blog posts here at length because that deserves a separate category in and of itself. So stay tuned!

To pave the way, I decided to go back to the beginning. Before there was Facebook, Instagram, and even MySpace, there was just my blog and I (and my adorable #poodlechild too!). I probably shouldn’t have written about my Christian faith on my old photography blog. But I did. I probably shouldn’t have written about heartbreak along the way. But I did. I probably shouldn’t have written about feeling numb when I found out my dad was dying of cancer. But I did. And it only came naturally to me because I was a photographer who photographed life, other’s stories, preserving their memories. And though I had the honor of photographing the happier times of life, life isn’t perfect in between, it’s messy. And through being open and honest with you, it’s the mess that bonded us together all those years ago, because you too had your own struggles you were going through.

And over the years, I missed having that outlet to talk to you beyond a quick Instagram or FB post. I miss sharing our lives in a real authentic beautiful way. Yes, I’ve still blogged here and there over the years. I’ve tried to keep it uplifting and inspiring or about pretty superficial things like fashion or home decor, and I might still share a little bit of the pretty things from time to time, but overall it has mostly felt superficial. I’ve felt it, you probably have too.

Moving forward, I’ve re-done my blogsite to incorporate two genres under one umbrella that have defined my life and career. Faith and photography.

FAITH represents life, inspiration, chasing dreams, faith in oneself, but most importantly, my love for Jesus and all He’s teaching me along the way. And above all else, my greatest hope is that my lessons can inspire you to draw closer to His heart too.

PHOTOGRAPHY represents posting my client’s sessions so they can share their photos with their loved ones. I’m still photographing seniors and still have that separate site here, but as I’ve been sharing with you about picking up my camera again earlier this year, you’ve been asking me to photograph other important moments for you. Behind the scenes, I’ve been taking on a select number of non-senior portrait sessions, realizing moving forward, I’m actually more these days a portrait photographer for fabulous women than just only a high school senior one. So I’m opening up the opportunity again for other genres of portrait sessions with me which you can read about here.

My favorite thing in the whole wide world to photograph? The confidence inside of you that you are waiting for permission to bring forth. That’s one reason I love photographing seniors, to help them realize how truly amazing they are as they venture forward to conquer big dreams. But with this, I also love photographing women of all ages on the brink of maximizing their greatest potential. To go along with this, I’m now offering photo shoots for women who need amazing photos of themselves for their website, business, branding, or simply just to be reminded how truly fabulous they are. You can view my gallery here, and read more info about it all here!

I will also be taking on a select number of other kinds of shoots, such as engagement/anniversary sessions or fashion related shoots, but will no longer be taking on family sessions or weddings. Why do I feel like Taylor Swift nervously telling the world she said she was no longer doing country? Though I miss her country crooning days and long golden curls, I admire that she had the guts to tell the world that she had to be true to who she was evolving into as an artist, as I find myself in the same shoes needing to stay the course of what fuels my soul creatively as a photographer. And I will always be grateful for the photo shoots of the past that shaped me as an artist.

As I press forward opening my heart to you once again, I want this blog to be a place you can be inspired to dream big dreams, a place you feel safe to share authentically in return, a place you can know you are not alone in whatever hard curveball life has been thrown your way. I want it to be a place we not only celebrate life together and each walk away more confident ready to conquer the world, but I also want this to be a place we can virtually pull up a chair and share a cup of coffee and use each other’s shoulders to cry on. Because that’s real life. Not the fluffy highlight reels in our newsfeeds we compare our behind the scenes mess to. My greatest cringe is for you to come to my blog, compare yourself thinking I have my act together, and leave feeling less unworthy. I know in the past, I had to stop reading certain blogs because that’s how I always left, feeling not good enough. My goal is to be real with you, show you I’m just as human, yet always point my strength back to the One who provides it.

Before I go, I want to ask you a very important question. As I just revealed above, I want to know, what holds YOU back and how are you going to change it?

Just for today, let’s give each other permission to do what we were put here on this earth to do… shine… and shine brightly. I believe in you. And thank you for always believing in me!

P.S. For one lucky person who comments on my blog today & tomorrow, I’m giving away a free $50 TARGET GIFT CARD to celebrate my blog makeover!

One person will be chosen at random, and there’s just 3 simple steps to win:

Follow me on Instagram if you don’t already.
Tag a friend or two in my Instagram post today telling them to check out my blog!
Leave a comment here on the blog answering the closing question I asked above!

One random winner will be chosen tomorrow evening (Tuesday the 2nd) and notified by email! Good luck to you! I hope you win! 🙂