We got more bounce in california... ::sings::

Guess where I am? If you said "California" - you're right! Taleah and I are in California frequenting all the local attractions (specifically Magic Mountain!) Woot! I can tell you, I'm loving the sun. For those of you who are unaware, I was born and raised in California and I'm quickly acclimating back to the lovely sunshine. I will have a hard time returning to cloudy dreary Oregon. ::sighs:: I could do without the traffic though! It's a living nightmare. AND I miss my hubby. A lot. A lot. A lot. I wish we could have taken him along, but alas, work had first priority. ::frowns sadly:: AND I have a sunburn - like I said, I'm still acclimating.

Taleah and I went and visited our old home in Simi Valley. Neither one of us could remember exactly what it looked like (it has been 16 years since we've lived there). We were really hoping that it would be a cute place and that it hadn't turned into some drug house since we grew up there. We pleasantly discovered that our parents have great taste and choose a quaint little place in a cute neighborhood. It was so fun experiencing all the memories that came rushing back - learning to ride a bike, playing dress up in the front yard, carving pumpkins, etc.

Anyway, we did snap some quick photos for those of your who are interested. ::grins::

It's us in front of our old house!

Here's a photo of the sunset from a lookout near our hotel. We used my sister's sun glasses as a filter! Good fun. ::grins::

[WARNING: To cleanse my worrisome mind, the laptop I'm using isn't color calibrated, so these photos may look a little off. Sorry!]

so busy!

Things have been a little crazy here at Greywood. All of our long lost friends have decided that they are glad to have us back. While I'm so glad that they haven't forgotten us and hate us now, our house has been a constant flow of wonderful friends and family coming over to "help unpack" which really means hanging out, eating, and talking about how much we have all missed each other. I love having everyone here all the time, but I can't get anything done! Our books are still in boxes, there is a mess in the garage, and everything is still splayed everywhere. So today we have decided that we are done with friends (not literally you guys - I love you all). We're taking a brief hiatus to unpack and get settled without any "help".

I would blog longer, but I have to get caught up with the studio's stuff first. More later!

Home at Greywood

We started packing this morning... It's nearly 9PM and we're not as close to being finished as I would have liked. Oye... AND we didn't get to hang out with our fabulous Brownell friends... ::frowns sadly:: We were even going to go on a picnic and frolic in the brief display of sunshine.

Enough complaining - on to the good parts of today. My lovely friend Mandi stopped by to chit chat and we had a lovely conversation as she watched me unsuccessfully pack and then repack a box of tidbits hiding out in our closet. Then Andy's friend Craig came by and introduced us to Marley - their adorable german shepherd puppy. We thoroughly enjoyed the brief interruptions from the endless organizing and boxing. AND I'm listening to Phantom of the Opera which always makes me a little happier. ::sighs happily and exhaustedly::

Now - the most exciting news of all! Our new little place is going to be called Greywood. Isn't that so quaint?! I'll post pictures of the new place soon!

The past is sometimes amusing!

Want to see something hilariously funny?

These are pictures from my sister's wedding which is what accidentally started our wedding photography business! It's crazy how much I've learned since this time. As cheesy as it is, I even did the selective coloring horror. I now quiver in disgust at all selective coloring, but even I am guilty of having tried this awful PS trick before!

Fortunately for me - I wasn't hired to shoot her wedding, I just had fun running around in my bridesmaid dress snapping pictures!

So without further ado, I present my first wedding ever!

And then for photos of their pre-wedding engagement session done at Christmas. I got my 20D as a Christmas/Birthday/rest-of-my-life-I'll-never-get-a-present-again present and needed some one to practice on! So Taleah and Jeremy happily volunteered to get "Engagement Photos" done. I think they turned out pretty decent considering I had only really ever shot with film before!

(Sorry I can't make the pictures bigger!)

Change Change - what a wonderful thing.

I love change - normally. I think I love change when I'm in control of said changes. But we're moving to Portland and I don't know what I'm going to do. Do I get a part time job? Doing what? Do I get a full time job in September after wedding season? And then leave 9 months later when wedding season hits again? I am hoping and praying that someone finds a solution to these questions because I just don't know what to do.

Obviously, my heart is ready to do photography full time. But I'm not sure that our pocket books are. A lot of this depends on whether Andy gets this new job that he's applying for which we are still waiting patiently to find out. We're crossing our fingers and praying! Andy talked to one of the guys who interviewed him and he said that the Big Whigs are in the process of making a decision as we speak. So that's good.

I think the biggest problem I'm having is that we're in limbo until we find out whether he gets this other job. We can't make decisions about living arrangements or whether I need to get another job or anything until they make this decision. So we're waiting.

Your prayers are appreciated! Pray that Andy gets this job, that the photography business flourishes, that we'll find a nice place to live, and most of all, that God will guide us in what he wants for our future!

Things I'm praying that could use a little extra supplication:

1. Twins for the Brownells
2. Comfort for M.E. who recently has had tragedy and grief heaped upon her
3. That B.C., B.H., M.E., & T.T. would find Jesus and healing
4. A wedding/event coordinating job for my sister, Taleah
5. An awesome person to fill my position at work who can continue being a "light" in this place.

That's all for now folks!

For the love of Photoshop

If you've checked out our studio blog recently and if you are an astute person, you will likely recognize that our computer is now fully functional and working splendidly. The joy this gives me is indescribable, but I'll sum it up to say - the blog gets pictures!

I really like blogging. I find it is a great outlet for me to analyze my thoughts and actually give myself time to think about them. I love posting pictures because I'm a sucker for pretty images. So now that I get to blog and post photos, I'm a happy camper.

So I'm just going to post photos!

Jim & Michelle -

When I showed Michelle the pictures this morning, she came in my office and started crying and hugging me. It meant soo much to me. I've never had a client cry over images that I've taken and I've always secretly hoped that someone would! ::smiles happily::

Then the images from Lani's bridal shoot (thanks Lani!)-

Yay! I'm so excited! I'm going to spend lots of time editing photos this weekend. Oh photoshop - how I have missed thee. ::grins::

Doing things differently

Why do things the same as everyone else? Why follow in other people's footsteps? It's so easy to blur the line between learning how you should do something and doing something the way some one else thinks you should. Oye...

I started thinking about this - in terms of photography mostly - because I was "enlisted" to take photos of the partners at our firm. They wanted the normal head shots that you see most firms displaying on their walls and websites. I did the shots and I feel dissatisfied with them. In truth, I hate them. They have no character, no personality, and they don't accurately reflect the kind of photography that we do. If I had the boldness to step outside the norm, I might have created something unique, creative, and amazing. I just kept to the standard boring shot and now I'm frustrated and worried. I'm worried they won't like the images because I don't. How can I give work to a client that I don't like? I loathe it. I dread it. And yet, I chose the boring shots instead of something more creative.

Perhaps I could have done both - boring and creative - and then let them decide which they would prefer. I didn't feel like I could though. I felt restricted by time and the personalities of the people I was shooting. I feel like I need to stop letting what I think other people want influence my creativity. I need to deliver what they never knew they wanted, but what they end up loving. ::sigh::

I feel like I allow myself to slip into shooting for what other people expect. If I always do this, I will never exceed their expectations. I will only just meet them. I am not content to just meet people's expectations. I want our clients to be in awe of the product that we give them. I'm tired of being average, thinking averagely, and producing average work. I'm tired of allowing the industry standards to dictate how I approach photography as an art. I'm going to try and start over. To think differently about expectations and to deliver something that doesn't just meet my client's expectations, but far exceeds them.

I'm going to be me. I'm going to put life and joy into ALL my work. I'm tired of trying to prove that I'm capable and mature. I'm not mature and I am capable. And the two can go together quite nicely. I'm impulsive, talkative, random, and silly. I laugh too easily and I sometimes say things that don't make sense. And yet, I love life and people. I love photography and making beautiful things. I love thinking and talking deeply. I love reading and writing. I love dancing. And all of these things make me who I am today. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being me. I've never wanted to be me before and I've spent my whole life trying to be a combination of other people. I think that I have stunted my creativity and my ability to "fly" because I have never noticed that I have wings. I've been so busy looking at other people's wings and watching them fly, that I haven't even tried to get off the ground with the wings that have been uselessly sitting on my back. So - I'm going to start trying. And I'm going to fall - a lot. But I am going to stop trying to be someone else and stop trying to figure out who I am - and I'm just going to be.