when the stars align

monday, i had a new coach at crossfit because my regular coach was on vacation.  she asked me what i do and i shared with her that i was a child | family portrait photographer.  a bit later, a woman walked in, ready to train, and my coach shared that i was a photographer.  the woman said,

oh, we haven't had photos done in forever.  but i don't like the way i look right now so i keep postponing.

tears instantly flooded my eyes, as i shared about kirsten. and max. and sam.  and my is there a perfect time post (which i now have at the top of my blog, hoping that everyone who visits will click and read). i don't care if she commissions me but i begged her not to wait for the perfect time, which for her was when her hair is more grown out.

there's a few things i feel i'm really meant to do in this life (beyond the obvious of being a great mother and wife) and one of them is sharing the importance of family photos -- not for ourselves but for those who love and cherish us. in this life, we just never know...and there really is no perfect time!

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also, this past weekend, i was commissioned by two incredible north carolina photographers and women -- serena boggs and emily corey.  to say that i was a bit flattered would be a huge understatement.

today, i want to share a bit about serena's story (tomorrow...emily). serena commissioned me for photographs of her family. but she commissioned me for another reason too...

serena asked me if i would also photograph her in a special dress and coat -- of her mom's. sadly, serena's mom passed away eight years ago, while waiting for a heart. she was only 49!! needless to say, serena misses her mom deeply and is very passionate about organ donation.

i flew in pretty late friday but we knew we had about 30-45 minutes of light that evening to play with. we had also checked the forecast and were blessed with a weekend of great weather. and...

it. was. absolutely. magical.

i really do believe the stars aligned and it was meant to be. i originally wasn't going to be able to photograph the boggs family because i was going to stop in north carolina, while en route to tampa...and it just so happened that the boggs family were going to be out of town that weekend. then plans changed and i ended up flying to north carolina this past weekend instead. yes, some things are just meant to be.

this morning, while surfing facebook, i came across this from serena...

deb photographed me in my mommy's dress and fur coat. these shoots i have waited for just the right artist. photographer to capture. knowing how important these were to me and my family. i have longed to meet deb for many many years now. she is one of the most beautiful women i have ever met. her art is enchanting and heartfelt. all the stars aligned for these. i am forever grateful. forever changed. and the heirlooms she has given us are irreplaceable. these are gifts for my three daughter's. a part of me & a part of their grandmother. much love to you deb. our hearts are full and thank you's will never suffice. xo

i have to say...having met and been able to hang out with serena and her family, MY heart is full and i am beyond grateful.  i am seriously blessed. thank you serena for letting me into your heart and home and for just simply being you. © deb schwedhelm | tampa family photographer

p.s. i almost burst out of my skin when serena told me that her dream family portrait was one where everyone was wearing masks.  i so love that!

p.s.s. do you see the hearts in two of the above images?  i do.

so what...

...have i been up to lately?  oh nothing much.  just... traveling from kansas to florida photographing a wedding celebration in WV (more on that soon) sharing meeting lots of new friends settling into a temp condo registering the kids in summer activities, schools, gymnastics, etc. transferring my business getting ready to head back to san diego this friday for a workshop and client sessions and... buying. a. fabulous. mini. castle.

ok, it's not really a mini castle, but it's what i've told the kids. and i think they might just believe it...i mean really, it has a pool. :-) how could it not be a castle in their minds, even if they have to share a bedroom.  contract is officially signed and our move in date is scheduled for august 19th.

so. can't. wait. to. be. settled.

also -- i wanted to thank you for hanging in there with me, through this transition!!

sharing a few recent photos. special times with very special friends...

san diego sessions

...availability this wekeend. i'm off to san diego in a few hours, for client sessions. so excited to be back, even if it's only a quick 2 1/2 days. any time in san diego is great time.  sure hoping to connect with a few friends, while there too.

also, a client just had to cancel her session this weekend because of sick kids, so if anyone is interested in reserving a session this weekend, please call or email.  i will be checking my emails regularly via my iphone.

so looking forward to trying some new things with my photography this trip.

and a few san diego photos, from the past few years...

signing off -- without a computer -- for three full days.  have a fabulous weekend!!

change is good

with every move comes a significant amount of purging, organizing, change and starting new and this year, that includes my business. purging lots of old client files. organizing my business everything, for an exciting and fresh start in tampa. and launching a new website.

this website is my fourth website, in almost exactly four years. i love it so much because of the flexibility and the large images. i'm a firm believer that a photographer's photographs should be what attracts the clients. and all in all, i'm just pretty straightforward and simple and i think that's what this website shows -- just doin' what i love and putting it out there.  :-)

so here it is -- come take a look at my new (and i like to think improved) deb schwedhelm photography website. i hope you love it!

also, i'd like to thank my family, friends, mentors, peers and clients for all the support and inspiration over these past four years -- it's been a hell-of-a-fantastic-awesome-and- sometimes-wild-and-crazy ride and i can't wait to see where the next four years take me.

p.s. we're now at T minus 24 until we are officially and completely out of this house. and i'm really kind of sad about it, especially since we don't have a house yet in tampa. this one-year tour here in kansas has been an incredible one and we'll never have another one quite like it!!

bittersweet

with a mutual love and obsession for horses (amongst other things), kiele and haeley quickly became best friends, shortly after our arrival here in kansas.  and through their friendship, we met the rest of the deeney clan, who we just adored from the moment we met them.  and today, the deeney family departs -- well, the parents will actually be back for a week to pack out, but the kids are headed to their grandparents, after after they attend a family wedding in tennessee. watching kiele and haeley say good-bye last night...well, lets just say it was painful. sad, sad, sad! after haeley left, i couldn't get kiele out of her bedroom.  i couldn't sleep, trying to think of ways to keep haeley and payton (the kids) here a bit longer.  but as i share with my kids, i reminded myself -- we have to be thankful for the opportunity to have met these new friends.  and look forward to seeing them again one day (which we will!!).  if we didn't come to this army post here in kansas, for this one quick year, we would have never have met this awesome air force family.

over the years, from state to state, we have made some of the most amazing friends ever!!  and while leaving them is always hard, we are truly blessed to have met and shared time with them -- and that's what we have to remember and hold in our hearts.

to show my thanks to the deeney family, for their friendship and all they've done for us this past year, i did a photo session with them the other day....

we will truly miss you heather, jay, haeley and payton.  thank you for a fabulous year!!

note:  kiele and haeley have already made plans to spend a few weeks together next summer, on the deeney farm and as far as i'm concerned, i'll do everything in my power to make that happen, if they want that.

is there a perfect time?

a friend posed this question today on her facebook wall:  what is holding  you back from booking a family photo session? quite a few women (moms) quickly commented that their weight is holding them back, which made me really sad. and a few posted money, which i understand but i also believe that there's enough photographers out there to cover everybody's budget.

this all led me to thinking about the perfect time.

is there ever a perfect time to have photographs taken of your family?

i posted on our wallflower friends blog today about an awesome article i read, which had the overall theme of taking the time to slow down and appreciate life and the everyday beauty that surrounds us.  in a swirly kind of way, i feel what i shared there and what i'm sharing here is totally intertwined.

it's so easy to say -- i'm too fat. i have too much going on. we're too busy. maybe next year.

but i just want to say STOP IT! we need to take the time to appreciate the value of family photos, if not for ourselves (because we're too fat or whatever), then for our children.  in 20 years, your children are not going to say,

i really love this photo of my family but i wish my mom had waited until she lost some weight.

and i think about steve's mom, who died when she was 40, only months after being diagnosed with breast cancer. steve was five at the time she passed away. he cherishes every single photo of his mom (not just the ones where she was thin, beautiful and looked perfect).

and kirsten sandstrom, who recently passed away at the age of 37, leaving behind a husband and three young boys. i don't think for one second that those boys will look at photographs of their mom (who pre-cancer probably wished she could have lost some weight) and see her as anything except the most amazing and beautiful mom there ever was.

we never know what tomorrow will bring our way.  and life is quickly racing by; before we know it, our kids will be grown and leaving the house.

NO, THERE IS NO PERFECT TIME.

i hope that this will inspire someone, who might be waiting for that perfect time or to lose a couple of pounds, to book a photographer...today!

and let us all try to slow down, remember what's important and see and hear the everyday beauty that surrounds us. © deb schwedhelm | tampa family photographer

san diego summer portrait sessions

i've had some recent san diego inquiries and am thrilled to share that i'll be returning to san diego the weekend of june 4th and 5th and july 17th and 18th, for child and family portrait sessions.  i still have a couple sessions available.  if interested in reserving a session, please email me. so very excited!!

here's a few images from my last fabulous san diego visit

family photos

this past weekend, we had the awesome opportunity to have our family's photos taken by untamed heart photography at the city museum in st louis.  and oh...my heart is so darn happy, i can barely stand it.  i cannot even begin to express how much i appreciate this gift michelle has given us. friday afternoon, we drove to st louis, to visit michelle and her family.  ryder lost his tooth on the drive and we hoped that the tooth fairy would be able to find us.  she did.  :-) our families had such a great time -- sharing, laughing, playing together!!  saturday afternoon was the photo session.  and on sunday, we visited grant's farm and then ventured home.

i truly and deeply treasure each and every image michelle has shared with me.  needless to say, she's wicked talented. here's a few that she has emailed over the past couple days...

thank you michelle, for the magical photos.  for opening your home and your hearts to our family.  for the special memories that will forever be a part of us.  thank you...for everything!!!

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and in case you were wondering, this is what the four-hour drive home had in store...

p.s. if you're a photographer, please don't forget to take the time to have your own (family's) photos taken!

fingers and toes

yesterday, the little ones and i got our toes done (aka a pedicure). kiele had a choice...and horseback riding won over pretty toes. ryder basically got a fab foot massage. sky ended up getting her toes and fingers done. it's always a big deal for sky, but when she ends up with pretty flowers on pretty toes and fingers, it's a really big deal. but...last night also happened to be bath night. how am i going to take a bath? i'm going to have to keep my feet and hands out.

you see, she does her best to not get those pretty toes and fingers in the water, for fear that the water may cause damage to her polish. it usually results in a mandatory very quick washing of the affected areas.

note: bath time was three hours post-manicure | pedicure.  this will actually continue for the next week or so.

so last night, i peaked in the bathroom and saw this...

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and today, we're headed to st louis, to visit this awesome family. can't wait!!

updates

portfolio updates, that is. i try really hard to keep my portfolio up-to-date. of course, there's some images that will probably never come off my online portfolio but that's because i believe in them so strongly. i feel that a current portfolio is so important, as i want my clients to know exactly what they're getting when they hire me. additionally, hopefully our work continues to evolve and grow over time and therefore, our portfolio and website should too...right?!

i'm pretty comfortable with the amount of images in my online portfolio and therefore, when i have a new photograph that i feel should go in my portfolio, an existing image must come down. well this time, it was really hard; i struggled with which ones to replace.

i hope that when people visit my portfolio, they see that i put my heart and soul into selecting images that clearly represent who i am as a photographer and what i love to shoot.

here's a few of the newly added portfolio images. you can see more here.

i so love what i do!!!

wallflower friends

i wanted to share a bit more about our amazing wallflower friends retreat -- a weekend full of sharing, learning, laughing and growing.  and the blossoming of 15 fabulous new friendships. the weekend really was incredible -- a dream come true for leah and i.  we arrived on thursday, nervous and scared. organizing. prepping. practicing.  friday evening brought our welcome reception and dinner.  by the end of the night, leah and i were in awe of the fabulous group that had come our way.  we couldn't have imagined a more magical mix of inspirational women.  and then saturday and sunday...well, we just spilled our hearts and souls and shared everything we could. sunday afternoon, we were exhausted and sad. sad that the workshop had come and gone so quickly. we longed for more!  and now...we dream about the next wallflower friends retreat, hopefully this fall, in a location still to be determined.

i also wanted to share that leah and i are super excited about the launch of our new wallflower friends blog -- a place for continued sharing, growing and inspiration.

last but not least, a few photos of the families, who so graciously volunteered to model for us at the retreat.  thank you sweet families...for everything!

celebrating their lives

today i wanted to share and celebrate the lives of two people, who touched my life in the most beautiful and powerful way over the past few years.  two people, who were taken from this world way too soon. sweet, sweet sam hutchison.  i met sam about three years ago through kiele's deaf itinerant, and began photographing him, when i shot he and max for  the magic water project.  from that point on, i tried to photograph sam and his family as much as i possibly could.

sam was such an incredible child, who loved fancy tennies, soccer, skateboarding and school.  he so cherished his friends and family.  he was gentle and kind and never complained.

after a five year battle with neuroblastoma, sam passed  away on friday, march 12th. while it was incredibly sad to attend sam's service, i was so grateful to be able to hug his parents and offer my condolences in person.  as his parents said at sam's service, his pain and suffering is now done and surely, he is one of the fastest angels up in Heaven right now.

and kirsten sandtrom, who was the cousin of a dear friend of mine, passed away yesterday.  after suffering from a chronic cough for a while, kirsten was diagnosed with adrenal cancer with metastasis to her liver and lungs, last july.  i was able to photograph kirsten and her family on a few different occasions.  kirsten (37) was an amazingly strong woman, who had a faith and spirit like no other.  she was truly beautiful inside and out and fought for her life with everything she had.  her family is absolutely amazing and i feel so blessed to have gotten to know kirsten and her family.

kirsten passed away yesterday morning, in her sleep.  i read on her site that she knew it was time -- she asked for forgiveness for anything she had done and then held on to say her goodbyes and share her love with her family, who was driving in...before closing her eyes for the last time.  my heart aches so much for her husband and three boys.

please, please keep both the hutchison and sandstrom families in your thoughts and prayers.  i just can't imagine!

and please don't forget to cherish and celebrate each and every day!!  thank you sam and kirsten for coming into my life and teaching me what it's like to truly live and appreciate.

where do i start?

if i thought my mind was a swirly mess before, well...now it's a really crazy, swirly, mess. but it's a different kind of mess.  a grateful one--trying hard to focus on getting organized and getting something accomplished.  i can barely figure out where to start?  actually, i think everything on the to-do list has been started and nothing on the to-do list has been checked off.  i pretty much just keep bouncing around, from task to task...here, there and everywhere. even sitting here at my keyboard, thinking i finally might have a blog post figured out, i struggle.  too many thoughts in my head.  too much i want to share.

hmmmm... i guess i'll start with the fact that the wallflower friends retreat was absolutely amazing. seriously. absolutely. amazing!! leah and i feel so very blessed... and thankful!

meet the spring wallflower friends.

hopefully in the next few days, we'll be launching the wallflower friends blog, where we'll share much more about the retreat.

for the moment, let me say that the experience touched my soul and without a doubt, has impacted me for a lifetime.

after the retreat in twentynine palms, i drove to san diego, to shoot 10 client sessions. it's hard for me to explain my feelings through it all. it was definitely more emotional than usual.

having not shot much in kansas city, i had almost forgotten how much shooting means to me; how much photography is a part of my soul.  there was actually a time this winter, where i felt that i was losing myself--a misunderstanding of sorts.

and then the shooting in san diego began, and i couldn't have been happier.  it was as if a part of me was alive again.  i felt like i could have shot 30 more sessions--right then and there. my heart was happy and session by session, my heart was becoming more and more full.  and i was becoming more and more alive again.

i had missed shooting even more than i had realized.

in closing, i share a few wallflower friends and san diego images (details coming soon, in future posts :-) ).

p.s. thank you for being patient with my lack of blogging. i'll simply blame it on stress.

a swirly, swirly mess

yes, my mind is a swirly mess right now--trying to focus on just one thing, yet instead focusing on everything all at once.  madly racing around from thought to thought. i have the personality that thrives on busy.  but sometimes the busy overwhelms even me.  and the anxiousness sets in, holds on tight and won't let go.  that's about where i am right now. thinking about...

nursing continuing education credits. must finish 60 CEUs before march 1st.  of course, i dread doing them, so i wait until the last minute.  and then get mad because life would have been much easier if i worked on them regularly over the two years (yes, years!!).  and then i wait longer, until it's truly the last minute.  aye!

our future tampa house. which we did not find yet.  and we continue to ponder the pros and cons of the different areas.  and different houses. something like this... more house for the money. less house but possibly better investment, but needs tons of work. near old friends. near new friends. schools are bad. schools are good. schools are great. high school is good. middle school is terrible. elementary school is great. five minutes from beach. 30 minutes from beach. pool. no pool. quiet and safe. cool and close to everything. garage. no garage. lots of storage. no storage. 45 minute commute to work. 15 minutes to work. travel for horseback riding lessons and gymnastics. minimal travel. needs tons of renovations. needs minimal renovations. will it rent? will it be a good investment? can a high school be too big? what about the rumor of money and drugs? gamble with a short sale? what's really important? and that's just the beginning of the pros vs. cons game.

our workshop. i'm so excited, i can barely stand it. but nervous too. can't help it.  it's now less than a month away.  we've given it our heart and soul, but is that enough?  and there's the last minute details that look crazy on paper, but i know it's really not. so every time i glance at the paper, i remind myself that all is okay and all will get done.

and since i'm griping...this weather. i'm so done with the cold (60-year record breaking cold). i want to shoot. outdoors. and can't. well, i can but it's too fricken cold!! i know shooting wouldn't really help my situation right now, being so busy and all. but it actually does. it calms me. even to just shoot and edit one photo. i long for it.

and then i remind myself about this amazing session in portland, shot a few weekends ago, which i'll properly blog about soon. need my mind in the right place, to do justice to this magical momma and daughter team.  a magical team who completely embraces confidence and loving and being yourself.  i'll leave it at that and share these photos.

and how excited am i to get skater socks for my entire family. thanks terri. love you. hang in there friend. and come visit me. pretty please.

it's all official

i'm off to portland the weekend of february 5th - 7th, to work on finalizing workshop stuff and see this magical woman. then we're off to tampa february 12th-15th, to house hunt.  let the anxiety begin.

then i'm off to twentynine palms march 11th-14th, for our wallflower friends workshop retreat.  so excited!

and then...to san diego, for client shoots, march 15th-18th. i still have a couple AM openings. if interested, please email me at deb@debsphotographs.com.

OH. MY. GOSH.

no offense to kansas, but i can't wait to see and shoot here again.

close quarters

many of you know about our plan to sail the americas, once steve retires (about eight years from now). well... over the past few weeks, i've come across some blogs of folks, who are RVing it...living (and traveling) out of their RVs. reading about their adventures, i have begun to think,

is it possible? could we do this? maybe we could RV it after tampa. or steve's last assignment (he has three left)...sort of a pre-sailing prep.  or am i just crazy to even think of such a thing?

of course, having middle or high schoolers at the time, things would be different than the families i'm currently following.  i'd love to find an RV family, with older children.  and it wouldn't be as exciting for us, as we wouldn't be able to travel all that much, with steve still being in the military and having to work, deploy, etc. but even with that said, my mind is churning and dreaming about the idea.

here's a few families i'm currently following: child's play the organic sister walk slowly live wildly

these families are all amazing, strong and inspirational. and their lives fascinate me.

i'm not sure i could purge as they are or have. rather, we will purge some, take some and plan to put some into storage. we're pretty minimalistic as it is; however, we do have things that we just can't let go of (or shall i say, i can't let go of).

not long ago, someone asked me,

what happens if one of our kids is some star athlete or something in high school? will you still pull them out of school to go sailing?

no, most likely not. if something like that happened, we would wait until they're out of high school. but for the moment, we talk about beginning our sailing adventure when ryder is 14 and sky is 15. kiele will be 21 and will have the choice, but for now, she has said that she wants to go with us.

yesterday, kiele asked what she should do for her next big project in her gifted class. her project can be on anything; it just has to be some huge self-guided writing project. i suggested that she do her project on our future sailing adventures. we discussed plotting our sailing route and writing about each destination--the communities, their cultures and how we can give back to the people at each stop, as that is an essential part of our journey.  and i'm excited that she's excited to take on the project.

another statement i hear a lot is,

your kids are going to hate it; they're not going to want to be pulled out of high school, to go sailing with you.

my reply is that we'll see when the time comes.  i am well aware of football, soccer, cheerleading, homecoming, prom,  friendships, etc.  for now, a girl has to dream...dream about possibilities.

even now, many people think that children would hate moving every two to three years, but i truly don't think mine do. they might not love it, but they don't hate it either. i'm constantly talking about how lucky we are to live in and experience the different locations, as we do. and how lucky we are to have special friends all across the US. i enjoy moving and i try to teach my kids to enjoy it too. the only challenge is kiele's education, but i think we're now to the point that her services are so engrained into her individual education plan, i don't think there's a school out there that could rightfully challenge them.

we will see. we will see.

for the moment, i will just continue following these incredible families living out of their RVs and dreaming about the possibility of my own family one day doing the same.  if not out of an RV, definitely out of a sailboat.

or maybe we could just get an amphibious RV ;-)  if only it weren't a million dollars.  crazy, huh?

for the love of...

film. i've been talking about it for years now--shooting film; however, that's all i've been doing. talking about it. for some reason, i feel like i need someone to hold my hand. not sure why. what am i scared of? what is holding me back? nothing more than myself. and that frustrates me.

i have two film cameras (a canon and a bronica) sitting on the shelf right above my computer...collecting dust. i seriously look at them all day. every day. cheryl jacobs tried to help me get my bronica to work, when we visited her in colorado, but something seemed to be wrong with the back. so yesterday, i ordered a new back and i'm determined to use it. as for the canon, it's fine. i've just had a bunch of lame excuses and haven't had the courage to pick it up.

damn it! this is the year--i am picking up those cameras and shooting film. i am! no more excuses. no one needs to hold my hand.

speaking of film and polaroid, here's some of my favorite polaroids from over the years.

every day

not sure if i ever shared this video.  with tears streaming down my face, i viewed it again today, after visiting the mikulak's blog, which i check regularly.  i think about max and his family each and every day, as they have touched my life in a way that is beyond words!  thank you max and the entire mikulak family for making my life fuller, making me a better person and teaching me how very important it is to live and cherish each and every day to the fullest!!

in sharing this, i encourage you and challenge  you to give  in any way you can this year and every year.  it will touch you in ways that are truly indescribable. if you'd like to help in pediatric cancer fundraising and advocacy, max's ring of fire charity foundation can be found here.

this video is 18 minutes long and amazing. max was such an incredible little boy, whose life was so sadly stolen by neuroblastoma at the age of seven.

(too short) Life | Max Mikulak | Max's Ring of Fire www.MaxsRingOfFire.org from Andy Mikulak on Vimeo.

if you don't have 18 minutes right now, there's also this video. about four minutes long.

Inspiration | Max Mikulak | Max's Ring of Fire www.MaxsRingOfFire.org from Andy Mikulak on Vimeo.

eta: looking for other ways to give with your photography skills? check out the give ten project for ideas (there's links of how to give on the right side).

thank you 2009

2010? that's crazy. i remember 2000 like yesterday, although not really because i have a terrible, terrible memory. but seriously, i can't believe it's 2010 tomorrow. as every year comes to a close, i think about how seriously blessed i am.  and this year is no exception.  it's been absolutely amazing!  my life is so full. and fricken awesome.  i'm so thankful--both personally and professionally.

on the brink of 2010, i was thinking of my goals for next year (just a start and in no particular order)-- be more present for my family (i.e. get off the computer). challenge myself professionally. shoot my kids' everyday lives more. get back to regularly working out (and feeling good again or as mary would say, not feeling fluffy). live each and every day to the fullest. give more. begin to journal.

i can't wait to see where 2010 takes my family and i. the one thing we know for sure...it will be elsewhere. and that, in itself, is pretty darn exciting.

thank you to everyone, who has supported deb schwedhelm photography and | or my family. i appreciate it more than i could ever express in words.  i don't think my family would be together right now, if it wasn't for some of the blog comments i received during that time of indecision.

here's to 2010--a fabulous year full of love, peace, health and happiness!

and in celebration of an incredible 2009, i share a some of my favorite personal and client photographs from the year.

from coast to coast...

and somewhere in between.  our next assignment is...tampa, florida!!

so here's the deal -- steve is penciled in for a three year tour at macdill AFB in tampa, FL. however, pencils do have erasers and that's the reality of military assignments. nothing is ever a 100% sure thing, but we are pretty darn sure.  take that for what you will.  that's basically what i do. when steve told me, i was like

are you sure? so does that mean we're actually going? your name is officially attached to that job? it's kind of, sort of a sure thing? you're really sure?!

his reply, right.

one issue is that steve and the other guy's (the one steve is replacing) timing doesn't coincide, so we're not exactly sure when we're moving. best guess is sometime between june and september; however, the kids and i will for sure be there prior to 2010 school starting. the detailer said that he should be able to cut orders for steve (hard copy versus penciled in) the end of january. that will be that much firmer. our plan is to go to tampa during spring break to look for (and hopefully) buy a house.

actually now that i'm typing this...not moving in june would complicate things a bit because we really need to rent our KS house out in june (when the next class arrives). so it would probably be best that the kids and i left in june, even if steve can't.  he would probably just rent an apartment or something until he could assume the job in tampa. aye!

i've already researched schools (the first thing i always do when PCSing) and south tampa has some really great ones, which is a huge relief. i'm not so worried about kiele anymore, since her transcription services are now so well established on her IEP (beyond california).  it will happen. and if by some chance the school chose to challenge kiele's IEP, i'll be in court until kiele receives transcription (without a doubt, we would win!! i really am that confident about it at this point.).

it's crazy that i've lived in: detroit, MI washington DC biloxi, MS tucson, AZ ft walton beach, FL (where i met steve) whidbey island, WA san diego, CA lansing, KS and soon...tampa, FL.

we're super excited, as we've heard nothing but fantastic things about south tampa. normally i would say that i'm dreading the humidity because of my curly hair that i straighten every day, which turns yucky-frizzy-curly in the humidity but...my dreads have pretty much remedied that issue.

in celebration of getting back to the warm and the beach, i share some of my fav beach photos from 2009.

peace!