Monday Musings | January 2018

January 08, 2018 in monday musings, personal, life lately

Happy New Year...a few musings to begin the year.

I’m curious to try this new grocery of non-branded goods, all priced at $3.

Tough as a Mother | Sweatshirt

Finishing thank you notes from the holidays. A handwritten note is always the best, and this guide is perfect.

We were traveling and missed the after Christmas holiday sales, but I did find this beautiful candle holder that I plan to use for my Advent candles next Christmas.

This movie. Creep. Always my worst fear. Yuck. And her funny write up about it.

A storytelling podcast for kids ages 4 to 10. (I always wanted to create a radio station like this when my boys were younger...and oh, healthy drive thru's too).

This essential oil for fighting viruses.

This fleece vest.

Working to Disarm Women’s Anti-Aging Demon

A searchable database that lets you know whether or not a film or television show is tied to a person who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

Upping my table game with a new pepper mill.

A cool art installation. Also, his advocacy for the Dream Act.

A couple of my favorite birthday gifts for kids. I love this book and this one.

NPR's Best 100 songs playlist of 2017 on Spotify.

And finally, my retail therapy (in my digital cart...just waiting for the "complete purchase" button to be pushed). You should go for it though and I will live vicariously through you! This coat, this sweater jacket, this cardigan, and these cult following jeggings (yup, you heard me...jeggings.)

Life Lately | 2018

January 05, 2018 in life lately

I have had a blog since 2007. It first began as a way to document my boys daily with a little bit of my work too. I remember being intimidated by the thought of having to "write" as I thought that was only what a blog was...and I am not a writer, but I was willing to communicate through photos, so I ventured in. For three years I documented my boys daily...with small smatterings of work that I was doing as well as motherhood hacks here and there. Although the site was there, my goal wasn't to build a following. I didn't even know that was a thing. I didn't really give notice to an audience and was fine with keeping a journal for personal family history. Who knew that blogging would later become a six figure income for some!

In 2010, I began using Instagram...thinking it was only a photo editing app. It wasn't until my 10 year old son told me, did I know that it was a social media platform and I was sharing photos. I had resisted Facebook and thought this would be my compromise. Then, in 2013, I lost my blog when I tried configuring it to a new platform. Six years of data was lost. Luckily I had printed my 365 daily blog posts of my family into books so there was tangible evidence that it had even existed.

Over these last few years, my blog has been a place for my career in photography, with some musings along the way. As an artist, I have always struggled with putting my work out there to be judged, which then led me to post less and only share it privately with those who I was collaborating with. Lifestyle photography is so personal for me...and I try my best to see the narrative of each job I am on. I also know it is personal for my clients and I respect that. I agonize over the photos I want to post over the photos the client might prefer I post. It is time consuming (the struggle in my head, that is) and I always find a way to talk myself out of putting anything up.

What I have enjoyed most recently is scouring the web finding links to things that I find interesting and that you might too. I am no longer a mother of toddlers but a mother of teenagers in college and high school and my interests have grown too. I am interested in growing old gracefully without enhancements, I am interested in civil rights and politics and what is fair, I am interested in lifestyle topics such as fashion, interiors, music, movies, books, podcasts and all the while, still raising happy, healthy, kind young men.

So this year, I am circling back to my blog and finding a place for my work and my voice. My hope is to be more courageous and raw. And to share more. Photographs and musings. Thank you for following along. xo