My current situation: I reluctantly went in to urgent care, feeling like I was coming down with the shingles, or a weird flu. Surely this debilitating nerve pain was just a virus, I will suck it up for a few days and it will go away as my strong body fights it off. The receptionist tells me I haven’t visited a health care professional in over 4 years. Hallelujah for a good healthy run, a big OOPS for not taking preventative care seriously.
The doctor tells me I have a bulging disc and I need to take steps to allow it to heal or it will get worse. He straps me into the most attention-seeking white neck collar, and I walk out ready to have a good laugh with my family about how silly I look. My husband pats me on my leg with that “I’m so glad you finally went to a doctor” look. I cry silently in pain; my neck is finally in the correct position and a burning sensation travels down my spine. I don’t like being broken. We watch a sermon about spiritual gifts. The speaker laughs about how God wakes him up at 3am to write, and he obeys. I conk out early. The neck brace proves to be uncomfortable, but the pain is subsiding and I am grateful. 3:06am. I am awake. The song “Broken Things” by Matthew West and the nagging instruction to write runs through my soul... “Now I'm just a beggar in the presence of a King I wish I could bring You so much more But if it's true You use broken things Then here I am Lord, I am all Yours” Since forever, I’ve kept the broken things inside. I package them up, give them to my Creator who can make my body, spirit, and soul heal, and go on my joyful way. Now I have a giant blinking Vegas sign around my neck that says “Ask me what happened!” How am I going to get around this? Eventually I’m going to have to leave the house. I can’t handle this. Insert laughing cry emoji. I throw in the towel. Ok Lord, here I am. I’m all yours. Teach me. I’m listening.
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One of our favorite quick getaways is a trip to Madera Canyon in the Coranado National Forest. Nestled in the Santa Rita Mountains, this canyon is slightly cooler than Tucson temps, has a few "natural" water slides for the kids, and can even boast snow during the winter!
There is a very nice, fully shaded picnic area with charcoal grills and up the hill a ways is a campground. Don't forget $10 for the parking fee, or show your National Parks pass from the dashboard! Its that time of year again... the kids are out of school and I'm pulling together all my resources to plan for the summer. THIS will be the year that we stick to a routine. THIS will be the summer that my kids read and practice math everyday. We'll have daily exercises and chores.
Oh who am I kidding?! We'll be lazy-ing it up on the couch watching three separate youTube channels all day everyday. There are 73 days of summer over here. That's 11 weeks. No teachers. No school. What on earth am I going to do with them?! Instead of fighting the screen time battle, I'm planning (plans get broken a lot around here, but we'll do our best, ha!) to introduce my kids to all the epic movies we early millennials grew up adoring. Here is our short list, keep in mind we've indoctrinated our children with Disney already ;) 1. Free Willy 2. Hook 3. The Secret Garden 4. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey 5. Babe 6. My Girl 7. Space Jam 8. Matilda 9. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West 10. The Parent Trap 11. Little Giants 12. The Little Rascals 13. The Neverending Story 14. Stuart Little 15. The Indian in the Cupboard 16. 101 Dalmatians (live) 17. Beethoven 18. Honey I Shrunk the Kids 19. Dennis the Menace I've had the privilege to photograph this family throughout the years, and our sessions together never disappoint! This time around, mom was dreaming about something light and airy, a more relaxed and lifestyle-esque session that would look beautiful on her walls for years to come. After a little consultation on outfits, and utilizing her impeccable decor, I think we nailed it! Welcome to the world, sweet little E!
For my photographer friends: I utilized two speedlites in this dimly-lit room to create a faux window camera left (with a large parabolic white umbrella) For a few that needed more fill light, an additional off-camera speedlite was pointed to the opposite (right) corner behind me. I wanted it to look like naturally-lit film, so I bumped my ISO to 640 for a little grain and to bring in the small existing window light from camera right. Zach, after spending 12 hours at school and helping me run an event, catches me in the teacher's lounge washing dishes....
"Mom, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that I love you and you're the best mom ever! Can I have a hug and a kiss?" He was tired, probably hungry. I was expecting him to walk in and complain. But no, he chose to honor his mom and exude patience. After totally losing my tears, it hit me. I realized that parenthood is about being an example. You see, I had been running around setting everything up. I kept a smile on my face and a positive attitude throughout all the stressful moments and hard work. After years of yelling, nagging my kids to do things and to be good, I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this parenting thing. I stopped yelling and started transforming myself. Instead of chiding my children to "Say please, say thank you, work hard, and clean your room!" I started to SAY please, SAY thank you, WORK hard, and CLEAN MY ROOM." Well, I'm still working on that last part ;) These littles are SO silly and fun to work with! Parents, let the kids be kids and I promise I will catch them being cute ;) Even if we only have 20 minutes!
This is one of my most loyal families... From engagement to baby belly, I've been honored to capture each poignant moment for them <3 And of course they are always up for an adventure in the sun-drenched desert. Cannot wait to shoot their lifestyle newborn session!
My kids have been born and raised in Tucson, AZ. This means that snow is scarce! I grew up under mountains of snow every winter, so its such a special treat to share that experience with my kids, even if its just a "puddle" of snow.
Mt. Lemmon is just a short drive for us, so we pack a picnic lunch, throw some extra clothes in the car and take off! Its best to leave earlier in the morning. By noon on most snow days (especially during school breaks and weekends), there is a line of cars waiting to access the mountain. If you do visit, don't miss out on the only local general store, http://mtlemmon.com/. You can see video stills from their website, updated every minute! |