I’ve been thinking about this blog a lot lately. Thinking about my process of blogging. I started blogging years ago when I was more of a scrapbooker than a business woman. The blog was lots of randomness which was mostly read by my mother, but it also had important stuff in there and stuff that other moms related to. Now I’m a busy mom of three with a busy business and I’ve noticed that as I leaned more into the client side of things, some of the mom stuff went away. Not here at home, necessarily…but with the storytelling that I had once loved to do. The blog needed to become a home for sharing business stuff…sessions and products and other information. Clients didn’t care so much about the little everyday stuff that was going on in my home or with my kids or my house projects or my everyday struggles and ramblings. So then blogging became weird to me. I didn’t know what to blog. I didn’t know how much to share and when to share and then I just stopped sharing. I tend to over think things sometimes this is probably one of those times.

I adore photography. It is something that I love with everything I am. Being a photographer is exactly what I need and want to be doing. When I think back to why I became a photographer, it all began with the storytelling. Capturing those little everyday moments that I knew would mean so much to me and my family both in the present and when my kids were grown. I loved getting behind the lens and getting those images that made me get a little misty eyed. I would scrapbook these memories and also share them on my blog. My readers enjoyed reading and liked the images…and soon began asking me to become the photographer for their families. It is a wonderful thing to be able to capture those everyday little memories for them. When a mom looks at an image that I took and says “you got his real smile” it brings joy to my heart. I love it.

But something is missing from this blog…ME. The photographer that you are hiring. I want to connect with you, the client and the family that you love. With this blog I began to worry too much about what people might want and forgot about what I wanted and needed. One of the greatest things in the world about owning your own business is the opportunity to make it what you want. There is more to me than just a business woman. And all of those parts make me the photographer that I am. So if I’m blogging about my son’s new room design or a new recipe or a trip to a swim meet keep in mind that those little things make up the person that I am. They contribute to the photographer that I am today and they will help me in capturing those little everyday moments in your child’s life that you want to remember forever. Those stories and tidbits of my life can help you relate to me and on session day, we’ll be more relaxed together. Most of my clients are moms like me…or have been…or will be one day. I don’t have amazing writing skills or perfect grammar and I’m not hilarious. I won’t have gripping stories to tell you that will have you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next post. But as a blog reader one of the best things is the ability to skim right over the posts that don’t interest you and get to what you came looking for…be it your grandchild who just had their first photo session, your extended family reunion shots or your daughter’s yearly photo shoot…or maybe you were interested in my son’s swim meet afterall either way, by giving myself the ability to post about what’s going on in my little world blogging becomes something that I love to do.

So why am I writing this? Because this blog just became all about me again. I did grow up an only child, you know…and do tend to like things to be all about me. (I’m kidding…kind of) I really just wanted to give myself permission to once again blog and record my family history along side the business aspects of my life. Hiring a photographer to capture your memories and loved ones is a personal decision. You need to feel comfortable with your photographer and relate to them in order for her to get those images that your heart desires. Hopefully this blog will help us connect a little better.

And with that…here is the first day of school:

That oldest boy looks less than pleased…not sure how many more years he’s going to put up with the camera

Although they do still welcome me walking them to their lines for the first day

This year the school did something pretty awesome. The teachers rolled out the red carpet, pulled the piano out of the music room to the front door and had all the students gather around for the Pledge of Allegiance and a rousing rendition of their school song – a great way to start off the day!

I am a busy mom of three and a wife and a business owner and someone who wants to have a beautiful and clean home without piles of laundry and a person who wants to be fit and healthy…and that gets me tired just thinking about all that I want to do and be. So I get overwhelmed sometimes and lose my focus. I forget sometimes where I want to be in life and the person that I want to be. And then I slow down a little and regain my focus and my happiness. I find that I am most happy when I complete a task…when I work towards completing a task or a goal and feel the satisfaction of that accomplishment. So this year I’m going to be better about focusing. When I’m involved in something, be it a task or an assignment or laundry or simply a conversation…it gets my focus. All of it.

The necklace I wear is from Lisa Leonard and is actually two necklaces, her through my lens necklace and her word of the year necklace and they both remind me of where I want to be…focused on creating the best life for me and for my loved ones that I can.

weekone

Each year around this time my mind goes to my goals and the things that I want to accomplish…where I am in life currently and where I want to be…and the steps needed to get there. I have a long post in my mind about this topic and about my one little word for the year, but that will have to wait for another day. For now and for my image I wanted to come up with a photo that depicted something I have been working on for the past 4 months and something I will continue to work on in 2011 and the many years to follow.

Fitness. My personal physical fitness and well being. And weight loss. But most importantly, fitness. I have loved the journey that I started on in September with my physical fitness and although I am not where I want to be nor where I need to be yet…I’m getting there. One day at a time. And although losing weight would be a great benefit, the best part is just being active and wanting to be active. For me, that’s huge.

My partner for this year long project is the very talented Kristyn of  Kristyn LaPresPhotography (portrait and lifestyle photographer in West Michigan) so please take a look at our images below and be sure to check out her blog as well!

If you’d like to check out more of these images, check out Veronica Starr and see what she and her partner posted about!

He’s extremely proud of himself (and should be…he worked really hard). And I’m pretty happy that he wanted a spot on the blog

I did have some icing…but no cookies. Saving myself for the boatloads of candy these three are going to bring in this weekend…

Although the EMP was built after I spent so much time at the Seattle Center as a kid (it was there when I was older, but I never have visited), it’s still pretty awesome to look at. Maybe someday I’ll get to go inside

We walked through the Center and saw some old sights and then headed towards the fountain. The kids all had a great time and got very wet, but there were lots of smiles to go around!

After we got the kids to dry off, we let them go on a few rides and of course Mr Smily just loved them…

I love this image of Claire…this is the park that I used to go to with my friend so often as a little girl as well as my dad on our Wednesday and Saturday visits…I promise those stone animals were much bigger when I was little…

After the park, we headed over for some lunch at a restaurant we’d all been to before although it was under a new name…and then a quick swimsuit change and a trip down to the beach. So fun to have our kids swim and play at the very same beach we played together as kids.

And no trip to Madison Park is complete without a trip to the Bakery…I didn’t get a maple bar, which is what I remember getting when we were little, but it was so cool to sit there with my best friend, her kids, my kids and both our moms as if we all just lived up the street again. Getting old and growing up is tough…keeping in touch with old friends is hard, and I miss her all the time. Finland is a long way from Utah…and Utah is a long way from Finland. But it’s amazing to see how we just slip back into close friends the second we see each other…

and the fresh peaches from Jarrod’s grandma…Miss Claire just loves them

I have lots of photos to catch up with and wanted to share a few from our stay at my mom’s house in Tacoma…it was fun visiting home, but it just reaffirms that home is really Utah now, which is a great thing.