Day 1: A Great Smile

My daughter just recently started to smile in response to me.  I'll just start talking to her and she just smiles and smiles over and over again. This has got to be one of the best gifts God could give.  I'm convinced she knows her Mama.  She's knows she's loved and taken care of.  I'm so grateful for her smile. 

My beautiful daughter at 11 weeks old.

PROJECT: Candidly Grateful

I recently embarked on the biggest adventure of my life when I had my twins.  They were born Nov 30, 2009 and they really are such a joy.  However, over the last 11 weeks one thing is true life can get lost in taking care of babies.  Monotony started to set in after about a week of feeding babies, changing diapers, and rocking to sleep.  Cabin fever shortly followed. 
So to fight the monotony and the cabin fever I have assigned myself a project.  This project is supposed to get me out of the house, challenging myself in an art I love, photography and keep my heart focused on the many things I am so blessed by.  PROJECT: Candidly Grateful.  For 365 days I will post a picture on my blog of something I am grateful for. 

RULES:
1. Picture must be taken by me, Jaime. 
2. The picture can not be used more then once. 
3.  The thing I am grateful for can not be used more then once.(Otherwise you would have 365 pictures of my husband and my kids.)  However, It can be something more specific about something I've already used. For example; I'm grateful for my daughter. Later, I could say I'm grateful for her learning to crawl.
4.  Must post everyday unless a major emergency happens which will have to be explained upon returning to blog.  (This will be the hardest for me!)

I'm really excited about this project.  I welcome the accountability and encouragement of anyone who cares to read.

Senior Photos

I remember my senior photos. I was so excited to get them done because it was the coolest thing ever. I could change outfits and use props and all the ones I had seen always made the seniors look so cool. Well all of the outfit changing and the props definetly didn't make me look cool in the studio shoot that I did. I won't name the ever so popular studio who does all of the senior portraits in Las Vegas. I wouldn't want to be unkind. But man I remember the disappointment. So as I am venturing in my love for photography it's my desire to take back senior photos from the dark side and turn them into everything I wanted when I was 18.

This is my attempt at taking them back. Emilee was a lot of fun to shoot. She made us laugh and brought us back into the cool lingo of high school.

A Great Family

I love spending time with the Morey's. We have gone to Freedom International Church together from the beginning of it's existance. It has been a joy getting to know them through the years. In 2008 I got to go to Kenya, Africa with Andy and got to experience first hand how absolutely funny he is. Joy and I have gotten to work together several times in the children's minstry together and I always get excietd when I see my name next to hers for serving that week. And I have really enjoyed watching Caleb and Miranda grow throughout the years. They are becoming Godly young adults. This is a great family who have become great friends.

Here is a shoot we did together in the freezing cold. It made for a fun morning.

I Miss Being a Kid

Don’t you miss the days before life got heavy? When you were light on your feet and quick on your toes, your imagination could take you to far off places and your ideas could make you into another person. You can be anything when you’re a kid and your never fearful of it not working out. I miss those days! The days when I didn’t second guess myself and I didn’t take everyone else’s opinion to heart. Kids remind me of the joy, peace and gentleness in life.
That’s probably why I immerse myself in them whenever I can. (If we all did this I believe the world would be a lot more joyful.) I work with them daily at an aftercare. Yesterday I received the best compliment from one of my first graders. He said, “I love hugging you. You remind me of my teddy bear.” That brought a huge smile to my face. I also work with the kids at church and would consider some of those kids to be my best friends. They always have an encouraging word for me. And recently I have found shooting them is one of my favorite things in the world to do. They don’t hold back and aren’t self conscious. It’s so fun. I think they will be my main focus in my photography business.
Here is one of my favorite kids in the whole world!

Jenn

We met in the summer of 2006 at a USF orientation, She started working with me in October, moved in with me the following May and has followed me ever since. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jenn was a pleasant surprise in my life. I went to what was my work one night and I left with a what I believe will be a lifelong friend. Jenn has seen me in some of my most embarrassing moments, some of my saddest and some of my craziest and she continues her love for me. She is someone I can count on without a doubt to help me with anything I need, and to always come with some crazy comment that makes me laugh until I cry. I thank the Lord for my surprise friend. Plus she is gorgeous to shoot.

Here’s a couple photos from a shoot we did together….Lots of fun!

Encouragement

I believe my strongest love language is words of affirmation. I know it’s one that I give the most but also it’s the one thing that can get me motivated and off and running in no time. I have been dabbling with this blog idea for years now. Way before I posted my first post, or signed up for a blog, I weighed the commitment heavily. And as you can see my first attempt wasn’t a winner. I posted for the first time October 2008 and now we are quickly approaching October 2009. Massive Failure I would say. However, I have received some encouraging words to spur me on. Now I will take my 2nd attempt at journaling life for the world to see. One of my favorite things to do is record life, keep in touch and maintain strong relationships. This is such a good way to do it. So with friends and families encouragement I jump back on the blog bandwagon and say “Here goes Nothing!”