happy birthday

happy 149th kansas!  yep, today is kansas day.  i'm not sure what's happening for kansas day in our small town of of 10,000.  crazy to think that san diego has a population of 1.28 million and tampa, 341,000  seriously? san diego...almost 1.3 million? okay, back to kansas...

it's been fun living in a small city.  it's been a great change and experience for my kids.  change of seasons.  snow.  farms, horses, cows.  new friends.

don't get me wrong...i have missed a couple things, especially lately.  like warm weather and a variety of nearby restaurants.  i dream about spring and warm weather.  it doesn't even have to be that warm.  a consistent 50 degrees would be awesome.  the cold and snow were fun at first, but i'm officially over it now.  over it, with months still to go.  and restaurants.  we have a few but in all honesty, we really only enjoy one--tampico (mexican restaurant).  i know, i know...perfect opportunity to work on my cooking skills.  yea.  ummm.  i'm working on that.

in celebration of kansas day, i'm going to search for sunflowers (state flower) to brighten my kitchen.  i'm sure whole foods has them.  too bad whole foods is a 45 minute drive.

here's some of my favorite photos taken here in kansas.

oh...

i do have one request from our city of lansing.  please invest in garbage cans and those automatic trash trucks.  breaks my heart to see guys walking from house to house, picking up trash bags one by one and throwing them into the back of the truck.  seriously...i thought all cities would have had the automatic thing going on by now.  maybe two requests.  i really wish you had free recycling so that more people would recycle.  i mean it's not really that expensive, but expensive enough that i don't see that many people doing it.

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.

we all have them

a while back, i was talking to a friend about writing. you see...she writes magically. and i'm pretty much in awe of everything she shares. i have no doubt that she'll be published some day. and she will be both author and illustrator. her drawings are equally amazing as her writings as is her photography? so we chatted away and i shared with her something that i've only shared with a special few (very few).

since starting this blog, i've had quite a few comments about my writing, asking me things like,

have i always loved to write? did i write before i began blogging?

the truth is...

my mom is 100% german, born and raised in germany. she came to the US when she met my dad (american GI) and became pregnant with me.  from that point on, my mom did her best to become americanized. she became fluent in english, although reading and writing continued to always be a challenge for her. and my dad was just not very active in our lives growing up.

with a german mother and a father who didn't play a huge or encouraging role in my life, i don't remember reading much growing up, except for the books my teachers forced me to read. i don't remember owning books. i don't remember books on a book shelf.  i do remember getting my hands on some judy blume books, which i did read and enjoy...but that's about as much as i read for fun.

the combination of a german mother with a limited english vocabulary, a father who was not very involved, and little reading resulted in my own limited vocabulary--something i have always been embarrassed and insecure about.

in high school, english was my least favorite subject (along with social studies).

in college, i dropped english lit three times until my final semester, when i was forced to take it and pass, or i wasn't going to graduate nursing school.  i clearly remember one of our first assignments; we read a book or story (can't remember) about a bear in the woods. i thought,

how the hell am i going to write an entire paper about this, when it's just about a damn bear in the woods.

i sat down with my paper and pencil and wrote. turned in this paper that i completely bullshitted my way through and the next thing i knew, the teacher was sharing my paper (ack!) with the entire class as an example of a well written paper.

what? how the hell did that just happen?

the class went on. i continued to bullshit my way paper by paper. and ended up with a B+ in the class. proud and blown away, i still did not like english lit or writing;  i just thought i got really fucking lucky.

that brings me to today. because of my vocabulary or lack thereof, i continue to have this fear of writing. and well, i feel it all equates to being a shitty writer...that i write like a child. sometimes while writing, i'll think of a word that i might have heard somewhere and not being sure if i'm even using it correctly, i'll go to my handy-dandy computer dashboard and look up the definition.

i'm not making excuses.  it is what it is.  and i try really hard not to dwell in or make excuses because of my past.

why do i share this?

we all have our insecurities. my vocabulary is a huge insecurity of mine and writing puts it out there for everyone to see (or read). in sharing this, i hope to encourage you to not let your personal insecurities get the best of you--give it your all and be proud. you never know where it will take you.

+++

i actually wrote the above a week or so ago.  and yesterday, my most incredible friend launched her newly branded website and blog and shared this on her blog:

My hope:

Is that my sessions are filled with lucky shots that are no accident; That I am not merely an observer, but a narrator; and a craftsman that is masterful at fostering conditions that allow for real moments to unfold.

Anyone with an eye for composition and light can document life as it happens. I firmly believe it takes something more to dig beneath the surface–to evolve into a photographer who is not just a picture taker, but a picture maker.

There is a moment of extraordinary that can be extracted from every 10 minutes of ordinary. Capturing it is not about point of view, equipment or framing. Instead, it stems from connection: connection to who the photographer is as an artist, and most importantly, connection to the people being photographed.

What does love look like? Exhilaration? Exasperation? How did she gently twist your hair around her fingers when she was three? And, what did it feel like the day you first held his tiny hands in yours?

I aspire for my photographs help to tell the stories. Theirs. Mine. Yours too…

her words are magical.  i dream of writing so elequently.  for now i savor her words...

to be a picture maker and not just a picture taker to know there is a moment of extraordinary in every 10 minutes of ordinary to know that it really is about the connection

love you steph. i cherish our friendship more than you know!

from my 365 grateful project...

i'll be there

best commercial ever.  i'm pretty much in tears every time it comes on TV (and just happened to come on during american idol tonight).  love.  love. hope you do too...

be there. be kind. and do good.

call it what you will

if there's one person i stalk and pretty much obsess about, longing for his next post, it's zack arias.  i've probably blogged about him three or four times in the past.  and i'm not apologizing for blogging about him yet again. he absolutely blows me away.  so talented.  i attended his one light workshop a year or two ago and he is equally amazing in person.  love his wife too.

i feel like there's so much i can learn from zack--on so many levels.  i try to soak up every bit he's willing to share.  hopefully, when i'm in tampa and a lot closer, i'll manage to see zack a time or two (workshop or something).  i don't think i could ever learn enough from that man.

so now that you know my obsession with zack's work (hope i'm not scaring you zack and meg), let me share with you his amazing post from yesterday via his new 365 project blog, DedPxl.

A-MA-ZING!

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?

hoetowns

during my blog surfing this morning, i came across this article, from motown to hoetown.  being from detroit, i found the article fascinating and full of hope.  not only hope for detroit, but for struggling post-industrial cities all across the US. later in the morning, i came across this awesome photography series, from ross mantle.  mr mantle doesn't share where his series of photographs was taken.  detroit?  maybe. but more likely pittsburgh, since that's where he's from.

i think it's crazy how i just happened across both the article and the series today, within a couple hours. not even sure how i ended up on mr. mantle's site. it was meant to be. and i feel that i was meant to share.

photo below is from ross mantle's city green series.  see his entire series here.  his riding out the summer is incredible too.

inspiration on so many levels.

and...just looked at his recent stuff.  diverging agendas--so awesome.

hope for haiti

it's hard to believe what haiti is going through.  the devastation. the pain. the struggle to recover. and then move forward. the struggle to simply survive amongst the devastation...the suffering...the dead bodies. i watched a video of a doctor running to treat a 15-day-old baby, with head trauma.  when he found them, he learned that the mother was dead. the father passed the baby over to the doctor.  it was a head laceration. no skull fracture. the MD put a bandage on the baby's head and passed the baby back to the father.

she is going to be okay. she's going to be okay, he said.

as i watched, tears fell. is she going to be okay? would the father be able to meet the baby's basic needs? their house is now a pile of rubble, with the mother buried beneath. i can only hope.

i can't stop thinking about the people of haiti. i see their faces over and over again. the pain, the sadness--you see the devastation in their eyes.

please donate. something. anything. and offer your thoughts and prayers.  at a time like this, you just have to believe in the collective power.  you just have to.

wishing with all the hope i have to hope that haiti finds some peace, comfort and relief from this devastation...soon.

appreciating life

i've been thinking about living a lot lately--my gratefulness for simply being alive. it seems that i've been hearing about a lot of tragedies lately--people i know, friends of people i know. freak accidents. precious lives lost. and of course, the recent devastation in haiti.

then while blog surfing this morning, i came across lindsay baumgartner's video on me ra koh's blog.  it's one of the winning videos for me ra koh's incredible  SOAR competition.  i hadn't watched any of the other winning videos but for some reason, today, without reading what it was about, i decided to watch this one.

lindsay's video is amazing and had me in tears.  her story reminded me yet again to be grateful for each and every day because life is something that absolutely cannot be taken for granted.  cherish it all--every day, every moment.

also...please don't forget to donate to haiti earthquake response and relief, if you can.  every bit will help.  it's as simple as texting 'haiti' to 90999, to send a $10 donation to the american red cross.

or you could donate here and support doctors without borders in haiti.  i decided to donate to both.

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.

1

yesterday, i received this this book for christmas, from my dear friend, steph.  every year, she seems to find the perfect book for me.  the kind of book that inspires my heart to be better and do greater.  the cover of the book became my grateful | 365 image for yesterday.

today, i wanted to share a few of my favorite excerpts from the book.

how many people does it take to make a difference? one one song can spark a moment one flower can wake the dream one tree can start a forest one bird can herald spring one smile begins a friendship one handclasp lifts a soul one star can guide a ship at sea one word can frame the goal one vote can change a nation one sunbeam lights a room one candle wipes out darkness one laugh will conquer gloom one step must start each journey one word must start a prayer one hope will raise our spirits one touch can show you care one voice can speak with wisdom one heart can know what's true one life can make a difference that difference starts with you. [unknown] you are not here by mistake. around the world and down through the ages there has never been another you. and there will never be another you. the miracle of your existence is now in your hands. you are here for a purpose. you have something that only you can give to the world. take time to consider what it is. some questions to ask yourself: who am i? why am i here? what am i doing for others?

if children with terminal cancer can find love, peace, joy and beauty in their day--and they do--why don't we?[dan zadra]

if you have even one close friend in life, you are blessed. the best way to keep a friend? be one.

don't be beaten down by naysayers. they'll call you a dreamer, a do-gooder, a romantic. every time you stand up for a good cause, someone will roll their eyes or tell you to sit down. there will be lots of people who can give you all the reason why you can't or won't improve the world. it's up to you to remind yourself of all the reason why you can and will. optimism and pessimism are both choices. which do you choose?

your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. if you haven't found it yet, keep looking. don't settle. stay hungry. stay foolish. [steve jobs]

this book is amazing. i've shared just a teeny fraction of the goodness in this book. inspiring words and quotes and interactive--asking questions, with room to write your answers.

something i've thought about is that maybe once a month, i could pick out a question | topic from the book, write about it here on the blog, with the hopes that it would inspire others to think and write about it too. and keep us thinking throughout the year. hmmm...maybe once a month? yes? no? thoughts?

thanks steph for always inspiring me to be a better person and truly make a difference in this world.  powerful stuff sweet friend!!

snow day

the conversation yesterday morning went kind of like this... her: i think one of the things we should discuss at the workshop is the importance of shooting often; you just need to get out there and shoot. every day, if you can. i don't do this but i should. i want to. me: yea. but you have to remember that some of us live in the snow and it's freezing right now. her: well you can still shoot. me, making excuses: like i really want to shoot, when we've been cooped up in the house for days. and like the kids really want me to shoot, when they're constantly bickering with each other. and me. her: i think it's part of improving, growing and getting out of a funk. you just have to shoot. me: well it's not going to be happening anytime soon here. her, i'm guessing: *rolling eyes*

after i picked up ryder from preschool, the snow started falling.  i was grateful for our first big snow storm and it's accompanying beauty.  well, it wasn't really the first storm, but it was the first to happen during the day.  and we were loving it. so on the drive home, ryder and i stopped in an open field and i took my iphone grateful | 365 shot for the day.

later, as i watched the snow fall from the comfort of my warm living room, leah's words rang in my ears. i thought...

it really is so beautiful. maybe i can convince one of the kids to come out front with me for just a couple minutes. for just a few shots. nothing big.  just something in the snow. we're in kansas...for only one year. and we might not get another good snow like this again. it's been so long...i need to shoot.

i asked sky first because she is typically the most willing of the three.  and she agreed. we went out in front of the house, for just a couple minutes.  till sky wiped out. her hands covered in snow and freezing, that was it and we went inside. i immediately plugged in the card and was so excited to edit a few of them. it's like a part of me was alive again. having not shot in what seemed like forever (except with my iphone), it felt so good. you see...when i don't shoot for a long time, this door opens (the wrong door) and self-doubt always seems to sneak in.

what happens if i've lost it? what happens if i go out and shoot and they all suck? i'm in a funk.

after getting a taste of it, i wanted more and begged sky to go with me, on the walking path behind our house...for just a few more minutes. just a few more shots. and she agreed again. :-)

excitedly (me more than her), we walked down the completely snow covered walking path. the snow was still falling and it was so, so beautiful, quiet and pure. just she and i. magical! sky played along with my excitement and let me shoot away. gloveless, i continued my hands couldn't take it anymore.

i share this because i really do believe you have to shoot often. every day if you can. it's funny how we can convince ourselves at times that we're in a funk. that we just can't shoot. that we suck. whatever. it's during those times, those times where self-doubt somehow snuck in, that it's most important to just pick up our cameras and shoot. something. somewhere.

thank you leah. for being that little voice that reminds me and pushes me. and doesn't accept or believe all my excuses.

here's some of my favorites.

do i dare?

do i dare buy another fabulous art print, from etsy, to be added to the growing pile that has been sitting for months (piled so perfectly in their perfect little holding place). that pile...that i so desperately need to frame and find a place for. because... if i dare, this print is going to be it. how perfect is this to commemorate this kansas journey. :-)

and i meant to share this a while ago, but somehow got sidetracked (imagine that).  look at this awesome heart, made from fujifilm instax prints, in the home of these fab wedding photographers,.  they put the photos up using thumb tacks.  i think it would be awesome to somehow adhere the photos to a mounting board or piece of wood, to make a permanent piece of art.  and i so love their hanging lights!

lastly, did you hear that polaroid is teaming up with lady gaga?  as creative director and inventor of specialty products, per the article.  i'm not exactly sure what all this means; however, it does mean that things are moving forward with bringing polaroid back in 2010.  woo hoo!

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!

embrace the questions

i beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live with them. and the point is, to live everything. live the questions now. perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. - rainer maria rilke

as i was cleaning my desk today, i came across a notebook with the above quote on the cover. and it spoke to me. so i share with you.

here's to living the questions in 2010 and not stressing about finding the answers...knowing they will eventually come and when they do, we will embrace and live the answers, just as we did the questions.

and now back to post-christmas cleaning.

happy birthday!

happy 5th birthday ryder! oh my gosh...my baby is five.  how did that happen?

ryder, i love you with all i have to love. and seriously cannot believe that my baby is now five and a big boy. thank you for being a good, kind, caring big boy. i love that you have manners and respect adults. i love that teachers share,

he's such a sweet boy.

you engross yourself in make-believe play just as well as your sisters, but with legos, super heroes, cars and playmobil. i could sit here and listen to you play like that for hours.

i can't wait to see where gymnastics takes you. you are strong and powerful and in a class with boys 2-3 years older than you. last monday, i knew you weren't feeling well, when you walked instead of ran your laps. when i asked you if you were okay, you shook your head yes and no, but said that you wanted to continue doing gymnastics. i let you. the minute you came up after the lesson, white as a sheet, i knew something was wrong. and within 30 seconds, you puked everywhere. only to puke again in about 10 feet away and slip and fall in it. while i was mortified that you puked so much, twice, at gymnastics; i was proud that you love gymnastics so much, you wanted to continue on, even when you weren't feeling the best. (although we did have a big long talk that you really shouldn't do gymnastics when you're not feeling so good). :-)

you learned how to ride a bike at 4 1/2 with barely any help. now, you long for a skateboard. and try soccer and football. and we can't wait to watch you do both.

you are an artist just like your sisters and can draw for hours. you write your letters well and are trying to put letters together, to make words. you're ready for kindergarten.

while we transitioned you into your own bed, with our move to KS, you discovered that if you sneak into mom and dad's bed in the middle of the night, mom will move over most of the time. (aye!).

you didn't transition well to the cold weather kansas brought us.  i had to force you to wear long sleeves and pants.  and then for the longest time, you rolled your pants to your knees.  you don't wear socks...ever, which drives me crazy because you have the stinkiest tennies.  most of the time (even in 20 degrees), your coat consists of a hoodie.

your daddy says i spoil you. and i probably do, although i'll never completely admit it.

i am proud of you. i can't wait to see where the next few years take you.

happy, happy birthday big boy!!

p.s. thank you for letting me take five-year-old photos of you.  and thank you for wearing your daddy's shirt from when he was a little boy, for the pictures.  you melt my heart.

+++

on a completely different note...

steve did not make XO.  i know those letters mean nothing to most non-military, but let's just say XO is kind of like the next step for one day becoming a commander.  what does that mean?  it means that steve will not be an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) commander and instead will follow a different track; it kind of opens the doors to other paths in the navy.  many believe that this is a great thing--more options, less deployments, less time away from the family.

we're hoping to find out more about steve's assignment options next week.  some places that steve has mentioned are staying here another year, san diego and tampa.  BUT, we could very, very, very well end up going to somewhere completely different.  i think after steve talks to the detailer (the assignment man) next week, he should have some specific choices.

this phase of not knowing is tough. i really just want to know.

wishing you...

wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and really fabulous 2010!

the above image was the front of our christmas card, with our family's photo on the back.  and this year is officially the last year that i am mailing paper christmas cards.  next year, i plan to email and post on my blog only!  all the money that i would have spent on printing the cards, paper for our family's christmas newsletter and stamps will go to charity (having sent over 150 cards this year, that will be a pretty good amount of money to charity).

i also decided that every year, i'm going to include our christmas card and newsletter in our family's annual book.  i'm not sure why it took till the fourth book for me to think about this, but better late than never.

now off to clean the house and begin making the kids' forts.  this morning they asked me when i'm going to start and shared that it was the one gift that they really, really want.  well...how can i say no to that. this is my inspiration, from the movie the holiday (such a cute movie).  tried to find the video clip to share, but all i could find was this screen capture i did from the you tube clip, a while back.

prudent advice

found this blog today, through another blog through another and another.  it often works that way. i really love jaime's bits of wisdom shared.  can't wait to buy the book:  500 pieces of prudent advice for my baby daughter.  can't wait to read it with my kids.  and highlight my favorites.  and discuss why these things are important.  and add my own bits of advice, that may be different than jaime's.  maybe i'll use the book as a journal of sorts.  adding notes here and there.  something that could be passed down to my kids.  that will evolve over time.  can't wait!!

a few of my favorites...

1.  always send a thank you note.

2.  try to know what is bubbling around your heart.

10.  offer your seat to elderly and pregnant people.

95.  have a firm handshake.

98.  if you haven't worn it in a year, give it away.

99.  you are bound to experience disappointment.

116.  at the close of each day, fill your head with thoughts of how lucky you are.

181.  be where you are.

203. return your shopping cart.

213.  create a sense of family no matter where you are.

214. try not to wait eagerly for people to finish their stories just so you can tell your own versions that more directly involve you.

my mother-in-law is so awesome with handwritten notes.  i treasure each and every handwritten note i receive, as it's a rarity these days.  in 2010, i'm going to try and be better with writing handwritten notes.  and remembering birthdays.  i used to remember each and every birthday...meticulously.  photography consumed my life and sadly i've forgotten to acknowledge most birthdays these past couple years.

years ago, i heard the statement be the one to put your shopping cart back, on the radio.  i literally think of it each and every time i go shopping and...i have done it ever since.  no matter what the weather. or the circumstances.  i love jaime's added note on this topic: abandoning your shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot implies a sense of entitlement.  someone has to put it away.  that someone should be you.

on december 31st, i'm going through my closet and giving away everything i haven't worn in a year.  i have a few special things that i keep saying i'm going to wear.  but i don't.  they're going too.

my advice for today: love your life. smile often. and just be happy.

happy one-month dread birthday

since i'm on a blog posting roll today...and i just realized that today, i've had my dreads a month... and i've been wanting to share a dread update... well...

i love my dreads!! i really and truly love them. and i totally feel that i'm meant to have them; i don't regret the decision for a second. and i hope to have them for many years to come, especially since i hear that they just get better and better with time.

even some of the biggest doubters have been pleasantly surprised, when seeing them. so they say. or so they lie to me. my family seems to ummm...not really mind them. i can't say that they love them as much as i do, but they seem to be tolerating them quite nicely.

the other day, i had this conversation with ryder, while in the car: ryder: momma, your hair always looks crazy. me: i know, but isn't it awesome. ryder: it's crazy. me: lol.

and today, i read this book to sky's first grade class and talked about the beauty of being unique and embracing your differences. and then shared all about my dreads, which was fun.

for those interested... i wash my dreads once a week. and wash the loose front hair every other day. i do dread maintenance pretty much every day. and probably do too much.  there's these loops that happen within the dreads, which i crochet back in...although it's not really crocheting like you're thinking. and my roots. well, my hair seems to dread (mat, knot, etc.) on it's own rather easily...almost a bit too easy. i recently had a couple dreads start to mat together at the roots (and that's with me trying to keep up with them). separating them was not easy...and hurt. i know there's some folks that just let dreads mesh together when that happens; however, i think all of mine would do that if i let them.  and because my hair is baby fine, i don't have a lot of dreads to begin with. needless to say, i'll be paying close attention to my dreads trying to connect themselves together.

all in all, i think i have the front managed pretty well (whatever that means). the back of my head...let's just say, it isn't the prettiest (whatever that means). today, i actually came to terms with the fact that the back kind of looks like this...

i took these today with my iphone, for a friend.

this photo highlights my trouble spot in the back of my head. the spot that was trouble even pre-dreads. it's the one spot that i must roll around on throughout the night. pre-dreads, i would wake up with that spot completely flattened and matted--every. single. morning. the same thing continues; however, now none of the dreads want to lay over (cover) the spot.

one thing i've learned is that no matter how many photos of other people's dreads you look at, yours will most likely end up looking different than all of them.  your dreads...are your dreads and yours alone.

and well. i love that. and i love my dreads. i really, really do.  i'm totally happy with my dread-do.  and i guess that makes me one big happy carrot top!  :-)