Stay tuned for golf course shots....
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Snow Day!
Brandi & West recently got engaged and because their venue is at the country club, we decided to do their engagement photos on the golf course. But since they live in the neighborhood, when I woke up to this beautiful snow I had to rush right over and take a few winter wonderland pictures. In a short 30 minutes we ended up with so many beautiful shots...
Stay tuned for golf course shots....
Stay tuned for golf course shots....
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Baby Love
Finally! The sun is starting to shine & I can get back to what I love...
This beautiful expectant mama is ready for her girls to arrive, but before they do we spent some time under a cherry blossom tree to capture her as she is now, pregnant with twins.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Pecan Farm
The day before the huge snow storm, I met Chris & Nichole at the Pecan Farm in Wake Forest for their engagement pictures. The cold hard wind presented some challenges for us, but in the end we got some really great shots that really reflected their personalities.
You really can feel the love these two have for each other and there is doubt about it, they love to have fun together too. They were laughing and giggling the entire time, I can only image how fun and sweet their wedding will be. Stay tuned for Nichole's bridal portraits....coming soon!
You really can feel the love these two have for each other and there is doubt about it, they love to have fun together too. They were laughing and giggling the entire time, I can only image how fun and sweet their wedding will be. Stay tuned for Nichole's bridal portraits....coming soon!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
M & M
We had the absolute most fun with Mike & Maggie for their engagement shoot. Starting out at the Cotton Exchange in downtown Wilmington, it was the perfect location to reflect this couples unique style and showcase the passion they clearly share for each other.
We left downtown and traveled down to the beach, stopping at Johnny Mercer Pier for a few beach shots. Since the two live close to the beach and Mike is surfer, it seemed only natural that we have a few pictures of them in their natural habitat.
Just when we thought that we couldn't have gotten better pictures, little M comes running up, splashing into the sand and stating very clearly she was ready to have her picture taken!
We are so excited to be part of this couples big wedding day filled with love and M&M's!!
We left downtown and traveled down to the beach, stopping at Johnny Mercer Pier for a few beach shots. Since the two live close to the beach and Mike is surfer, it seemed only natural that we have a few pictures of them in their natural habitat.
Just when we thought that we couldn't have gotten better pictures, little M comes running up, splashing into the sand and stating very clearly she was ready to have her picture taken!
We are so excited to be part of this couples big wedding day filled with love and M&M's!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Blessings
An excerpt from Mommyhood
I can't think of another word to title this entry other than blessings. I am sure I could get creative, but once everything is said that I need to say, I think you will agree this is the best word to describe it all.
Every year Jon and I host a donation drive around Thanksgiving, this year we decided to switch it up a bit and instead of donating to the Rescue Mission we chose Interact - an organization that assists women & children subject to abuse. So it was all one twist of fate and google session that led me to volunteering for their Holiday Bazaar this past Saturday. I offered my photography services to take portraits of the mothers & children as they came in to collect Christmas presents for each other.
Its a really great set up. About 100 families are nominated by their case workers to come in and join this bazaar. Good hearted fortunate people all over the area donate unwrapped toys for children of all ages and this year they even added a bonus for the mamas. They asked for gift baskets of lotions & make up, etc, for the kids to pick out a present for their moms. Before everyone left they got to gift wrap their gifts and take a picture together.
When I first arrived my mind was in total photographer mode. I was horrified that the backdrop was not going to be the right size, the lighting was atrocious (sp?!) & I really should have brought props. I had envisioned this entire event outdoors (not sure why since its winter) and so I felt under prepared. Then the printer that they had set up there was a kodak quick printer, which is not known for quality and on top of that the ink was leaning towards yellow so my pictures were printing off tone. This was my total focus the first hour, I couldn't escape my nature, I was there as a professional photographer and I felt like I was holding up my end of the bargain.
As I am reeling through my brain how to fix these minor set backs, one of the volunteers comes up to me and pulls me aside. I found myself hoping that maybe she wanted to hire me for some time in the future, but instead she snaps me back into reality. She says "I just have to tell you, I was walking around with one of the women you just photographed and she told me that before she got here she was really down, not in the holiday spirit. But she told me that you really brightened her day and brought her back into the Christmas spirit, she is all smiles right now and she said it was because of your cheerfulness."
Oh... right.. this is why I am here. Not getting paid, not to advance my career, not to give myself any pats on the back. I am here for these women. Which walking into the place, I was well aware of, however I supposed due to a series of unfortunate photographer nightmares - I had gotten sidetracked. Well I wanted to cry at that point, but held it together and decided that I was going to stop being focused on the artisitc nature of my pictures and instead - my cheerful spirit.
"Next!!" I yelled in my best jolly happy Betsy tone. There was afterall a waiting room of about 40 people and at least 100 more to go after that.
I wouldnt' go so far to say that 100% of these women were desperate for help. But I would say 95%. I don't think you can escape the small number of people who take advantage of these systems, but at the same time, who's to judge.
Every time a new family appeared before me, I wondered about them. What brought them here, how far into their situation are they... are they safe now.. are they still in trouble... can I make them smile... and some I honestly could not. There were a few who stand out to me that no matter how many times I asked, in no matter how jolly of a tone... I couldn't not get a smile from.
There are two families that stand out to me most. Two women that I will never forget, as long as I live and I believe I was destined my whole life just to meet. They have made an enormous impact on me, funny... I thought I was supossed to be impacting them. They both may feel worthless & weak, but I wish there was a way for me to tell them how they changed me, how they have added to my life in just a brief encounter. Since I can't, I will tell you.
April & her three girls come and stand in front of the frosty the snow man backdrop. Immediately I feel connected to her since my bday is in April, I don't believe in coincedences. She is a bigger lady, but with a pretty face... her girls are supermodel material between the ages of 8-15. April is sad, sweet, but sad. And I can see in her daughters faces, she has a tendancy to lash out. I don't think she is abusive to her girls, but they were on their best behavior & I felt that the oldest girl was a mother to all of them, including April. April did not want her picture taken, but since she did not have a picture (not one, not one picture at all) of the 4 of them together, she agreed reluctently.
I tried a variety of poses, I was only allowed 3 snaps for each family & I broke this rule twice... this was the first time. My heart wanted them to have a picture they loved, a picture that April looked at and felt happy. So I took a few, printed them and handed them to her. She looked disappointed, aside from the printer issue, her angle wasn't the best. I had her body in it and it looked true to life... she was having a very difficult time mustering up a smile so the best one I could get was a forced half smile, that ended up being more of a double chin. And for some reason... her lips turned blue from the ink. Again, I don't believe in coincedences... so because of this ink failure I was allowed to reshoot them all together. While they changed the ink cartridge I had several extra minutes... and a new idea. I was going to have her sit down and have the girls all bring their faces in cheek to cheek with each other. I was going to tell them the entire time how beautiful they were and that I was sending these pictures to America's next top model... and there... I got it.
When I printed the picture off, I printed an extra one in black and white for her. She looked at it and looked back at me with soft eyes, filled with thank you from her heart & hugged me. This woman didn't really seem like a hugger... but I got one. She walked out of the room happy... her girls were instantly cheerful that mom was smiling. I had to hold it together... this was only 10am and I was here until 3pm... I thought that woman was going to be the stand out of my day... until about 12pm...
I was kneeling down on the floor, working on my lens, when I glanced up and saw an oversized plaid sweatshirt. It was so big it could have filled up the entire room, but it was drapping off this smaller white lady. I focused on her for a second and in her face I saw someone that if you brushed her hair and put a shiny silver necklace on her, you wouldn't be able to tell her apart from any other country club wife. Of course, you'd also have to change her out of this wretched outfit, but she just didn't seem to fit in by the looks of her with the rest of this large group.
Because she was standing behind a table I couldn't really see what she was leaning on, until she began to push Tyler's stroller around to me. My heart cracked, tears welted up and it was all I could do not to jerk this baby out of his stroller and run out the room. I would just take him to my house, raise him with Dylan, happy and clean.
Hope smiled at me and told me she didn't realize they were having their picture taken today, if she had known she would have dressed better. She turns to Tyler and he gives her an unsure glance, not unsure of her, in the way they looked at it each it seemed clear they were each others safety net. She lifted him out of his stroller and he looked around the room with eyes that just seemed to speak. As if he was this old soul checking out his scene, making sure it was ok to smile. Then mommy gives him a big kiss and he knew it was. I got smiles from him. Smiles from her... she asked me to excuse the dirty on his little pale yellow ducky sleeper. They had just been playing everywhere that day, that cold and rainy day.
Somewhere in my mind, I thought for a brief second that if I could just keep them there and continue to take their pictures, I could keep them safe. There was one picture that I got, that I have saved, that she looked straight through the camera, straight to me. We shared a connection as mothers in this instant. I knew in my heart how much she loved her baby, how lost she was in her situation & how deeply she wanted to give her baby what I can give mine. I didn't feel envy, just like her soul wanted to step inside mine and be that kind of mother, not for her, for Tyler.
I've said throughout this blog that we mothers are in a sisterhood. For some reason up until this day, I pictured this sisterhood women who have the good fortune of being able to be picky with their babies food. Who even have the option to make their babies food from stratch, should they so please. Who can discriminate against products that are not BPA free... that can buy the little comfort items for their $300 car seats and go to the pediatrician for every little new quirk they see in their baby. Women, mothers, like me...
Hope lives in a trailer, with her abusive husband, her baby rides around in a stroller that was clearly someone elses trash from the 80's and no more than $10 when it was bought new. I don't think they have access to a bath, or they don't have that access very often. They for sure don't have a washing machine and there are not bins and bins of baby clothes for little Tyler to grow into and out of. He didn't have the top of the line bottle, no paci, no toys - she didn't have a diaper bag. She didn't have her own warm clothes, he didn't have a blanket... they were both wet... no umbrella. She couldn't be further from my life, we couldn't be in more seperate places in our universes... I would have never looked twice at her walking down the street, I would never have ever been in the same place at the same time with her... if I wasn't here today. If I didn't have the opportunity to get to really truly see her, her heart, her soul, I saw all of this through my lens. And what I saw, went straight into my own heart, found itself a little place there and there it will remain until the say I die.
I will save this picture (that due to safety reasons I cannot share with you) and will look at it anytime that I feel I've got it bad. Anytime that Jon and I are in an argument, or that I am tired, or sad, or even when I am happy. I will recall Hope & April often throughout my life to remind me of inner strength, a mothers will and love... of my own blessings.
I've learned a lot about being a mom in these last 9 mths with Dylan. A lot from my own mother, my sister, other mothers I know, books, articles, tv... but Hope & April may have taught me the deepest lesson. That I am able to be the kind of mom who not only can buy the best brands & have the resources to give him the best diet & life plan possible... and that its never something I will take for granted.
For the past several nights I have rocked Dylan to sleep and I think that I found a whole new deeper level of love for him, just in knowing that Jon & I will give him the safest, healthiest & happiest life any child could ever dream of. That while I can't keep every poor & scared baby in this world warm & safe tonight, I can keep my baby warm and safe. Its a true blessing just to have that, to have a man who loves his child and his wife with kindness, and truth and purity. To be the kind of woman who would settle for no less and the kind of mother who kisses her baby good night, puts him in his fancy crib, on his pottery barn sheets & will now feel peace and gratitude in my heart for being this person, with this life.
Thank you April & Hope for reminding me of that. And thank you for your inspiration. And if somehow me writing this can go out into the universe and into your hearts... please remember that you too can be the kind of woman who settles for no less. That no one, no one, can take away your free will and you & your children deserve to be warm and safe at night too. Your impression on me was so strong, stronger than just about anyone I have ever met, you have a strength in you both that if you allowed yourself to see... there would be no stopping you. Universe, please show them if you can.
Readers... hopefully this story will remind you this Christmas that while you are running around spending fortunes for boxes under your tree... and stressed because of mall traffic, not sure what you are going to get people, stressed already that you will be pulled in a million different directions on Christmas Day... that somewhere there is a little one year old boy name Tyler, with a single toy that someone donated, in a trailor with his mom & Christmas day to him is just another day he survived. So kiss your family, slow down and appreciate the hectic lucky shoppers about you, and count your blessings.
Want to help Interact? Click Here http://www.interactofwake.org/donate/
I can't think of another word to title this entry other than blessings. I am sure I could get creative, but once everything is said that I need to say, I think you will agree this is the best word to describe it all.
Every year Jon and I host a donation drive around Thanksgiving, this year we decided to switch it up a bit and instead of donating to the Rescue Mission we chose Interact - an organization that assists women & children subject to abuse. So it was all one twist of fate and google session that led me to volunteering for their Holiday Bazaar this past Saturday. I offered my photography services to take portraits of the mothers & children as they came in to collect Christmas presents for each other.
Its a really great set up. About 100 families are nominated by their case workers to come in and join this bazaar. Good hearted fortunate people all over the area donate unwrapped toys for children of all ages and this year they even added a bonus for the mamas. They asked for gift baskets of lotions & make up, etc, for the kids to pick out a present for their moms. Before everyone left they got to gift wrap their gifts and take a picture together.
When I first arrived my mind was in total photographer mode. I was horrified that the backdrop was not going to be the right size, the lighting was atrocious (sp?!) & I really should have brought props. I had envisioned this entire event outdoors (not sure why since its winter) and so I felt under prepared. Then the printer that they had set up there was a kodak quick printer, which is not known for quality and on top of that the ink was leaning towards yellow so my pictures were printing off tone. This was my total focus the first hour, I couldn't escape my nature, I was there as a professional photographer and I felt like I was holding up my end of the bargain.
As I am reeling through my brain how to fix these minor set backs, one of the volunteers comes up to me and pulls me aside. I found myself hoping that maybe she wanted to hire me for some time in the future, but instead she snaps me back into reality. She says "I just have to tell you, I was walking around with one of the women you just photographed and she told me that before she got here she was really down, not in the holiday spirit. But she told me that you really brightened her day and brought her back into the Christmas spirit, she is all smiles right now and she said it was because of your cheerfulness."
Oh... right.. this is why I am here. Not getting paid, not to advance my career, not to give myself any pats on the back. I am here for these women. Which walking into the place, I was well aware of, however I supposed due to a series of unfortunate photographer nightmares - I had gotten sidetracked. Well I wanted to cry at that point, but held it together and decided that I was going to stop being focused on the artisitc nature of my pictures and instead - my cheerful spirit.
"Next!!" I yelled in my best jolly happy Betsy tone. There was afterall a waiting room of about 40 people and at least 100 more to go after that.
I wouldnt' go so far to say that 100% of these women were desperate for help. But I would say 95%. I don't think you can escape the small number of people who take advantage of these systems, but at the same time, who's to judge.
Every time a new family appeared before me, I wondered about them. What brought them here, how far into their situation are they... are they safe now.. are they still in trouble... can I make them smile... and some I honestly could not. There were a few who stand out to me that no matter how many times I asked, in no matter how jolly of a tone... I couldn't not get a smile from.
There are two families that stand out to me most. Two women that I will never forget, as long as I live and I believe I was destined my whole life just to meet. They have made an enormous impact on me, funny... I thought I was supossed to be impacting them. They both may feel worthless & weak, but I wish there was a way for me to tell them how they changed me, how they have added to my life in just a brief encounter. Since I can't, I will tell you.
April & her three girls come and stand in front of the frosty the snow man backdrop. Immediately I feel connected to her since my bday is in April, I don't believe in coincedences. She is a bigger lady, but with a pretty face... her girls are supermodel material between the ages of 8-15. April is sad, sweet, but sad. And I can see in her daughters faces, she has a tendancy to lash out. I don't think she is abusive to her girls, but they were on their best behavior & I felt that the oldest girl was a mother to all of them, including April. April did not want her picture taken, but since she did not have a picture (not one, not one picture at all) of the 4 of them together, she agreed reluctently.
I tried a variety of poses, I was only allowed 3 snaps for each family & I broke this rule twice... this was the first time. My heart wanted them to have a picture they loved, a picture that April looked at and felt happy. So I took a few, printed them and handed them to her. She looked disappointed, aside from the printer issue, her angle wasn't the best. I had her body in it and it looked true to life... she was having a very difficult time mustering up a smile so the best one I could get was a forced half smile, that ended up being more of a double chin. And for some reason... her lips turned blue from the ink. Again, I don't believe in coincedences... so because of this ink failure I was allowed to reshoot them all together. While they changed the ink cartridge I had several extra minutes... and a new idea. I was going to have her sit down and have the girls all bring their faces in cheek to cheek with each other. I was going to tell them the entire time how beautiful they were and that I was sending these pictures to America's next top model... and there... I got it.
When I printed the picture off, I printed an extra one in black and white for her. She looked at it and looked back at me with soft eyes, filled with thank you from her heart & hugged me. This woman didn't really seem like a hugger... but I got one. She walked out of the room happy... her girls were instantly cheerful that mom was smiling. I had to hold it together... this was only 10am and I was here until 3pm... I thought that woman was going to be the stand out of my day... until about 12pm...
I was kneeling down on the floor, working on my lens, when I glanced up and saw an oversized plaid sweatshirt. It was so big it could have filled up the entire room, but it was drapping off this smaller white lady. I focused on her for a second and in her face I saw someone that if you brushed her hair and put a shiny silver necklace on her, you wouldn't be able to tell her apart from any other country club wife. Of course, you'd also have to change her out of this wretched outfit, but she just didn't seem to fit in by the looks of her with the rest of this large group.
Because she was standing behind a table I couldn't really see what she was leaning on, until she began to push Tyler's stroller around to me. My heart cracked, tears welted up and it was all I could do not to jerk this baby out of his stroller and run out the room. I would just take him to my house, raise him with Dylan, happy and clean.
Hope smiled at me and told me she didn't realize they were having their picture taken today, if she had known she would have dressed better. She turns to Tyler and he gives her an unsure glance, not unsure of her, in the way they looked at it each it seemed clear they were each others safety net. She lifted him out of his stroller and he looked around the room with eyes that just seemed to speak. As if he was this old soul checking out his scene, making sure it was ok to smile. Then mommy gives him a big kiss and he knew it was. I got smiles from him. Smiles from her... she asked me to excuse the dirty on his little pale yellow ducky sleeper. They had just been playing everywhere that day, that cold and rainy day.
Somewhere in my mind, I thought for a brief second that if I could just keep them there and continue to take their pictures, I could keep them safe. There was one picture that I got, that I have saved, that she looked straight through the camera, straight to me. We shared a connection as mothers in this instant. I knew in my heart how much she loved her baby, how lost she was in her situation & how deeply she wanted to give her baby what I can give mine. I didn't feel envy, just like her soul wanted to step inside mine and be that kind of mother, not for her, for Tyler.
I've said throughout this blog that we mothers are in a sisterhood. For some reason up until this day, I pictured this sisterhood women who have the good fortune of being able to be picky with their babies food. Who even have the option to make their babies food from stratch, should they so please. Who can discriminate against products that are not BPA free... that can buy the little comfort items for their $300 car seats and go to the pediatrician for every little new quirk they see in their baby. Women, mothers, like me...
Hope lives in a trailer, with her abusive husband, her baby rides around in a stroller that was clearly someone elses trash from the 80's and no more than $10 when it was bought new. I don't think they have access to a bath, or they don't have that access very often. They for sure don't have a washing machine and there are not bins and bins of baby clothes for little Tyler to grow into and out of. He didn't have the top of the line bottle, no paci, no toys - she didn't have a diaper bag. She didn't have her own warm clothes, he didn't have a blanket... they were both wet... no umbrella. She couldn't be further from my life, we couldn't be in more seperate places in our universes... I would have never looked twice at her walking down the street, I would never have ever been in the same place at the same time with her... if I wasn't here today. If I didn't have the opportunity to get to really truly see her, her heart, her soul, I saw all of this through my lens. And what I saw, went straight into my own heart, found itself a little place there and there it will remain until the say I die.
I will save this picture (that due to safety reasons I cannot share with you) and will look at it anytime that I feel I've got it bad. Anytime that Jon and I are in an argument, or that I am tired, or sad, or even when I am happy. I will recall Hope & April often throughout my life to remind me of inner strength, a mothers will and love... of my own blessings.
I've learned a lot about being a mom in these last 9 mths with Dylan. A lot from my own mother, my sister, other mothers I know, books, articles, tv... but Hope & April may have taught me the deepest lesson. That I am able to be the kind of mom who not only can buy the best brands & have the resources to give him the best diet & life plan possible... and that its never something I will take for granted.
For the past several nights I have rocked Dylan to sleep and I think that I found a whole new deeper level of love for him, just in knowing that Jon & I will give him the safest, healthiest & happiest life any child could ever dream of. That while I can't keep every poor & scared baby in this world warm & safe tonight, I can keep my baby warm and safe. Its a true blessing just to have that, to have a man who loves his child and his wife with kindness, and truth and purity. To be the kind of woman who would settle for no less and the kind of mother who kisses her baby good night, puts him in his fancy crib, on his pottery barn sheets & will now feel peace and gratitude in my heart for being this person, with this life.
Thank you April & Hope for reminding me of that. And thank you for your inspiration. And if somehow me writing this can go out into the universe and into your hearts... please remember that you too can be the kind of woman who settles for no less. That no one, no one, can take away your free will and you & your children deserve to be warm and safe at night too. Your impression on me was so strong, stronger than just about anyone I have ever met, you have a strength in you both that if you allowed yourself to see... there would be no stopping you. Universe, please show them if you can.
Readers... hopefully this story will remind you this Christmas that while you are running around spending fortunes for boxes under your tree... and stressed because of mall traffic, not sure what you are going to get people, stressed already that you will be pulled in a million different directions on Christmas Day... that somewhere there is a little one year old boy name Tyler, with a single toy that someone donated, in a trailor with his mom & Christmas day to him is just another day he survived. So kiss your family, slow down and appreciate the hectic lucky shoppers about you, and count your blessings.
Want to help Interact? Click Here http://www.interactofwake.org/donate/
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thanksgiving Family Portrait
Melanie found me on craigslist and asked if we could come and take a family portrait of her with her family for Thanksgiving. Her brother and sister had come in town for the holiday, along with their significant others and little nephew. Katie and I were so excited to photograph this family because Mike & Melanie had 2 18 month twins, and her nephew was just barely two... all boys. What we weren't thrilled about was the down pour of rain that morning and the prospect of photographing 3 two year old boys inside. It was a challenge to say the least, we'd bribe the boys over to the rocking horse hopeful for a chance to get them in the same spot long enough to take a picture, when one twin would knock the other one off the horse and the other would run to mama crying. We ended up with a few of them in the same shot... which was no little feat.
Thankfully, soon after we arrived the rain stopped long enough to begin the family shots. Melanie's nephew was set on the impossible task of finding the tiny wood nymph in her backyard, always just missing it by a split second. Somehow his daddy always found it first and when David would turn to look - it would vanish. Must just be one of those things only tall people can find easily...
We ended up with some great family shots and had a lot of fun that day. Thank you rain Gods for clearing up the sky long enough to give this family a few great pictures so they can always remember this Thanksgiving together.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
A Picture
i really wanted to become a millionaire, all I would need is someone to agree to give me one penny every time I wished i had my camera with me when I didn't. It would be completely ridiculous for me, knowing me, to carry my expensive camera around with me everywhere seeing as how I cannot seem to hold onto a cell phone for more than a weeks time. so sometimes i just have to take pictures in my mind, store them somewhere safe away in my heart & find peace in knowing that these are the pictures I will carry with me forever.
Today we went as a family to the Christmas Parade, I go to grab my camera as we head out the door & realize that my memory card is with my sister & we have no time to stop and get a new one. While I am usually very disappointed when I can't bring my camera somewhere there are sure to be thousands of opportunities for beautiful pictures, it can sometimes be a relief as well. You see, when you are constantly behind the camera it makes it difficult to enjoy the moment as it is happening. Sure, you can always go back and look at your pictures to remind yourself you were there, but being camera free can open up the ability to actually be fully present. So while I sadly lock the door to my house at the prospect of missing so many candind moments, I remind myself that today I will be taking pictures with my heart and that brings a smile to my face before loading up the car.
I promised myself that this blog was going to be all about pictures, not all about being a mom, which is absolutely my goal with A Thousand Words. However being a creative person I am forced to write about what is on my mind and today it happens to be about my family.
I don't have a picture to share with you about this really wonderful morning, other than to paint one for you in your mind. Here we are, Jon & I, pushing a stroller both sipping on our dunkin donuts coffee, trying to find the perfect place to perch and watch the parade. Being first time parade attenders, we were not aware that arriving early to get a good seat means arriving a full hour, instead of the mere 30 mins we were proud of ourselves for. All of the front row seats were filled along Hillsborough Street, so we nudge ourselves into a cozy little spot at the West street intersection. The nightclub flyers along the ground only serve as a mini reminder of how much has changed for us in the past two years.
A cold 30 minutes later the parade begins & I watch my little one in his daddy's arms to see if this trip was worth it at all. Dylan is a little young to really understand a parade and this being the middle of his normal nap time I was sure a meltdown was going to occur in place of the parade. To my surprise Dylan was mezmorized by the marching bands, floats & little children that surrounded us. He actually lasted almost the entire parade, mommy & daddy switching off baby every 10 minutes or so as our arms started to fall asleep from holding him up so long.
As I had suspected, there were many moments that would have made beautiful pictures and I tried my best to ignore the tiny pinches of envy I felt for all the people around me with their cameras. Most of them snapping away mindlessly, I reminded myself not to be a camera snob and pay attention to the parade. And then I caught it, the picture that would have been worth a thousand words. My baby, exhausted from the excitment, with his head laying on my husbands shoulder - tucked comfortably under daddy's chin. The marching band was walking by in the background, but my eyes were on my two boys & I knew right then this was an image that would last with me in my mind as long as I lived. I would probably flash back to this moment 25 years from now as I am dancing with my son at his wedding. I may not be able to frame it, or post it on any blogs, but this picture in my mind is worth more than a thousand words and its a picture I will treasure forever.
Today we went as a family to the Christmas Parade, I go to grab my camera as we head out the door & realize that my memory card is with my sister & we have no time to stop and get a new one. While I am usually very disappointed when I can't bring my camera somewhere there are sure to be thousands of opportunities for beautiful pictures, it can sometimes be a relief as well. You see, when you are constantly behind the camera it makes it difficult to enjoy the moment as it is happening. Sure, you can always go back and look at your pictures to remind yourself you were there, but being camera free can open up the ability to actually be fully present. So while I sadly lock the door to my house at the prospect of missing so many candind moments, I remind myself that today I will be taking pictures with my heart and that brings a smile to my face before loading up the car.
I promised myself that this blog was going to be all about pictures, not all about being a mom, which is absolutely my goal with A Thousand Words. However being a creative person I am forced to write about what is on my mind and today it happens to be about my family.
I don't have a picture to share with you about this really wonderful morning, other than to paint one for you in your mind. Here we are, Jon & I, pushing a stroller both sipping on our dunkin donuts coffee, trying to find the perfect place to perch and watch the parade. Being first time parade attenders, we were not aware that arriving early to get a good seat means arriving a full hour, instead of the mere 30 mins we were proud of ourselves for. All of the front row seats were filled along Hillsborough Street, so we nudge ourselves into a cozy little spot at the West street intersection. The nightclub flyers along the ground only serve as a mini reminder of how much has changed for us in the past two years.
A cold 30 minutes later the parade begins & I watch my little one in his daddy's arms to see if this trip was worth it at all. Dylan is a little young to really understand a parade and this being the middle of his normal nap time I was sure a meltdown was going to occur in place of the parade. To my surprise Dylan was mezmorized by the marching bands, floats & little children that surrounded us. He actually lasted almost the entire parade, mommy & daddy switching off baby every 10 minutes or so as our arms started to fall asleep from holding him up so long.
As I had suspected, there were many moments that would have made beautiful pictures and I tried my best to ignore the tiny pinches of envy I felt for all the people around me with their cameras. Most of them snapping away mindlessly, I reminded myself not to be a camera snob and pay attention to the parade. And then I caught it, the picture that would have been worth a thousand words. My baby, exhausted from the excitment, with his head laying on my husbands shoulder - tucked comfortably under daddy's chin. The marching band was walking by in the background, but my eyes were on my two boys & I knew right then this was an image that would last with me in my mind as long as I lived. I would probably flash back to this moment 25 years from now as I am dancing with my son at his wedding. I may not be able to frame it, or post it on any blogs, but this picture in my mind is worth more than a thousand words and its a picture I will treasure forever.
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