It's all about our perspective

Option 1: My child keeps getting herself into nooks and crannies and thinks she is stuck when she's not. It's kind of annoying.

Option 2: Sunday crawls into these places and cries out for help... and I get to rescue her. I am her every day hero!

Option 1: I am constantly picking up the toys in this living room. It gets SO OLD.

Option 2: I'm picking up toys all the time, but at least I am off my butt moving around and the task literally takes less than 2 minutes. It's good for me to move!

Option 1: I am so tired of cooking three meals a day and cleaing up the kitchen 3 times a day. It's like I live in here.

Option 2: For the first time in my life I am cooking a lot more meals than I am buying and I'm really excited because I am eating healthier than ever and saving so much money.

Having the right perspective is something I am constantly working on. There are days when I simply throw in the towel and pout all day. But then there are days when I can easily see the good in situations. I think a lot of times I blog because it forces me to find the good in a situation. I like keeping this blog as a place of encouragement and positivity, but I also don't want you all to think I don't have my bad days or tough moments. I do. Remember this day?

Okay, end of my public service announcement. :)

Happy weekend, friends! I'm off to my last wedding of the season and the kickoff weekend for Fall Family Portraits! I have a few slots left and I JUST updated the availability on the info page. Shoot me a message if you would like to book!

Gratituesday: Our Mondays

Remember Gratituesdays? I have really missed them! So right now, I vow to keep them coming for a long time, no matter how regular they are.

Mondays are the least favorite day of the week. I know I don't have to explain why to you guys. However, Mondays are good days around here. Tommy only works 4 days a week (10hr days), and the day he consistently has off is Monday. I love, love it. It's like our own personal weekend day to do whatever we want or need. We love the weekends and we love spending time with our friends and family... and of course enjoying seasonal activities with them. But when Monday rolls around, we are grateful to have an extra day to spend doing what we need as a family. Sometimes it's grocery shopping, getting hair cuts, or doing yard work. Other times it's curling up and being couch potatoes all day long. But it always includes a big breakfast and an early bed time. Which we love.

And the best thing of all? When we do start our "work week," it's already Tuesday!

So today I'm grateful for our Mondays. Yesterday was a typical Monday spent running, dinner with the parents, and putting the house back together for the weekend. It's such a great time of resetting and recharging for our family. I don't know what we'll do if Tommy's work schedule ever changes!

Gratituesday is a weekly blog post (that I try to keep up with) I got involved with over here. You should join, too! If you do, be sure to let me know in the comments as I would love to read what you write about.

gratituesday: my friend sabrena

Gratituesday is a weekly blog meme I participate with over here. You should join, too! If you do, be sure to let me know in the comments because I would love to read what you write about.

Internet, meet Sabrena.

Sabrena is another photographer here in Lynchburg, but more importantly, she is my friend. Sabrena and I shared a lot of classes in college, including the same photography class. We started shooting professionally around the same time.

And it is important for you to know that she changed my life.

When you are just starting a photography business, it is very easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself and your work to others. It's easy to compare things like how much business you appear to be bringing in, how accurate your white balance is, the overall quality of your images with others, and the list goes on and on and on. It's easy to feel competitive and it is very, very exhausting.

One Sunday I was chatting with Sabrena after a church service we both had attended and she was telling me about her work. And suddenly she said "I don't worry about competition because I trust that the Lord will provide for me and my family."

Um. Woah. Imagine that.

That statement made me stop and reflect. Do I believe I was meant to do this? Yes. Do I believe God wants me to have this business? Yup. Then why am I worried about whether or not I will be successful? If it is clear to me that this is what I am supposed to be doing... then I need not worry.

And from that moment on, my life was changed.

Of course, I love Sabrena for so much more than her life-changing statement. She is an inspiration to me. She is positive, encouraging, and has a servant's heart. She is confident yet humble. I love that we both receive and give encouragement to one another regularly. I love all of the time we get to spend together... and I love that she is in my life!

So this week... I am grateful for my friend, Sabrena. She is a light in my life!

P.S. I also really love that her and her husband are comfortable enough in our home to come over wearing slippers and comfy house clothes. :)

Gratituesday: Simplifying

Today I am grateful for that small, refreshing little thing we call simplifying. Back story: I do not think it is good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18) Or woman, for that matter. :) After a few months of sitting in my office by myself day after day (with a few trips thrown in), I have decided to make the trek to stay with my family near Fredericksburg for the next few weeks. This works out fabulously as all but two of my upcoming photography jobs are located closer to my family's homes than my home. How does it happen that way? In any case, I am not complaining. I am excited to use that as an opportunity to go and visit with my favorite people in the world and to have their company each evening!

But! What this little trip ALSO does is gives me the opportunity to take with me only what I need. I am actually really excited about narrowing my mobile office down to just the necessities. And my wardrobe, too! It's refreshing to clean things out and get rid of junk. Especially the junk that I am attached to for no good reason at all.

It's springtime. I am sure many of you have started your spring cleaning and have experienced the freedom of getting rid of stuff. But I bet there are some others out there who haven't. When is the last time you purged the extra stuff around you? You should give it a try! It is so refreshing!

I just googled "How to Simplify" and this link was one of the top results. The very first thing on this list is "Clear Clutter."

I'm just sayin'. You should give it a try!!

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Also, I am grateful for inspiration (as always). I want to share with you all two things I came across this morning as I settled into my work space.

1. This is a story of one boy's wish to become a Superhero being granted by a whole city! A LOVELY warm and fuzzy for you to read. :)

2. And this is Stephanie Nielson's story. If you haven't heard about NieNie's story, I would question if you have been under a rock for the past year. :) But this is the best account I have seen/heard, with her words, and her images. It is beautiful and inspiring.

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And... a quick sneak peek from one of my sessions this past weekend:

Love!!

A Sailor's Delight | Lynchburg Landscape Photographer

When I was in the fifth grade my class was assigned a project on clouds. We could choose our specific projects but the goal was to identify the types of clouds in the sky over a period of about five to ten days. Like any natural procrastinator, I took all of my photos on the last two days of the project and threw them together as if my teacher would have no clue that my photos depicted an entirely different weather pattern then the rest of my classmates. (Who all lived in the same 20mi radius, mind you.)

Now, I was never actually held accountible for that bad decision of mine, but apparently it has stuck with me all these years and I think I still feel a little guilty for it. I digress. Guilt is not the only thing the project gave to me that has stayed with me all these years. Ever since that fifth grade lesson on clouds and meteorology I have had a lovely fascination with the sky. Not that you would know anything about that, because I don't think I have ever posted a single photo I have taken of the sky.

The truth is, I am super intimidated by nature photography. I feel like there is no way my photo could ever do the beauty of this earth justice. Especially because to even get close to the real thing, I would have to do a whole heck of a lot of photoshopping. And it's just not the same to me.

But I love the sky. I do. I am always looking up when I am outside. I love when the sunlight sparkles through the trees. Or when rays shine through fluffy clouds and give me a glimpse of my idea of heaven. Or when there is that one last little layer of pink across the sky over in the west as the sun sets. Oh... the pink sky at night... my dad taught me a little sailor rhyme when I was a small girl and I still repeat it in my head as I look at those pink skies. "A pink sky at night is a sailor's delight... a pink sky in morning, sailor take warning!" Pink skies in the morning are rare, though. At least rare for me to recognize. I only know that because it is very rare for me to end that little rhyme with a thought of "uh oh." :)

I want to take more photos of the sky. I want to push myself to capture what it is that I love, and I love the sky. This is me, pushing past those little fears of mine...