I Shoot Like A Girl

Yes, another necklace from my beautiful friend, Stacy, who owns Bella Wish, from which this necklace came from.  When I saw that she had this in her store, I KNEW I had to have it.

I have ALWAYS loved photography.  Ever since I got my first polaroid camera when I was 10.  When I first took Photo in Junior High and again in High School, with my Pentax K1000.  I LOVED that camera.  I loved black and white photography.  I loved working with the pictures in the darkroom.  I always wanted to have a darkroom of my own in my own house.

Well, life got in the way, and things happen, and with me and my practical side, I never did any pursuing with it.  Along come my children and of course with children come photos.  And with the timing of them, along came scrapbooking too.  I fell in love with scrapbooking.  And what do you scrapbook?  Photos?  And how do you want to make your pages look better and stand out?  Take great pictures.  So my photography side came back out again.

When my mom passed away, I bought myself a Canon Digital Rebel SLR.  I love that camera.  The grip is all worn off and I need to get a new grip, but I still love it.  I love the lens I purchased for myself about 2 years ago as well.  There is a new lens I want to get as well, and hopefully soon I can get it.

So about 2 years ago, I really started getting into photography again.  I started shooting action shots (softball) and in the process, found a friend who does a lot of photography.  I started making connections.  I started talking to my friend, Brad, who is an AMAZING photographer, and AMAZING friend.  This was it.  The timing seemed so right.  I worked part-time, the girls were getting a little older, this was perfect, I was going to get the free time to finally start pursuing this.  I was out taking pictures around all different places.  I was getting some really good shots.

Then, once again, life happened.  And it wasn't meant to be then.

Once again, it got put on the back burner.  And I mean the WAY back burner.  To the point that I didn't pick up my camera for months.

And I missed it.

Boy did I miss it.

Just before Christmas I did a photo shoot with my girls.  We went down to Balboa Park and had fun.  And I worked with a difficult subject.  My youngest daughter.  Who was NOT in the mood to have her picture taken, AT ALL.  But I worked through it and loved the results.

This past weekend we had an AMAZING moon out to see.  Well, for those of us who didn't have COMPLETE cloud cover, that is.

So the night was beautiful and I went up to my friend's house for about a 1/2 hour and sat in his backyard and  shot this moon:

And again, I fell in love with my camera.

I'm hoping that this will help me to jumpstart this passion again and start moving things along.

Only time will tell.  But I know that this passion will not go away, and through all the obstacles, I will, one day be able to pursue this.

Daughter

Okay, so she says she hates this picture but it's one of my favorites.

She is such an amazing person.

She is beautiful inside and out.

That is when she's being nice.

When she's being sarcastic, she's just like me.

And she hates that.

Or so she says.

But I think she likes it.

But that could just be me.

She loves having her back cracked.

And cracking just about every other joint in her body.

She loves Eminem.

And the Beatles.

And the Foo Fighters.

And Usher.

And Linkin Park.

And yes.......Justin Beiber.  Sigh....  ::::::::::: shaking head::::::::::::

She loves to sit and watch TV with me.

And yes, she does love her sister, even though they fight, what seems like constantly.

But I remember what it was like to have a little sister.

And yet, another reason she is like me.

She is a strong young lady.

Something I was NOT when I was her age.

She steps up when needed.

And I SO appreciate that.

I have always asked her to be honest with me.

Even if it's not something I always want to hear.

But she is far better at knowing herself than I was at her age.

She ROCKS at soccer.

And she's very intelligent as well.

She laughs at me when I swear.

But she can swear with the best of them.

Must be that red hair feisty-ness coming out in her.

My friend, Cindy, loves her when she sees her and basically shoves me out of the way to see her.

Kindred spirits, I think.

She shows compassion, humanity.

She once started a charity fundraiser at her school for the victim of Hurricane Katrina.

Her sarcasm, wit, dry humor and smiles are the bomb.

When people say we look alike, I find that to be such a compliment, because I think she is stunning.

I am so proud to call her my daughter.

Expectations

I was talking with a friend this evening and the word "Expectation" came up.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with a dear friend about a year and a half ago.  I got to spend a lovely day with her and her daughter.  A day filled with laughter, and many conversations.

In the course of our conversation, the word "Expectations" proceeded to intertwine with our words quite a bit.

In the natural course of life we are bombarded with expectations that surround us.  When we are little, we expect our parents to be there for us.  When we are teenagers, we expect everything go our way (I mean, hello, at that point in our life we KNOW everything, right?)

In relationships we eventually have Expectations that, for the most part, are normal.  With our significant other, we expect them to treat us right.  We Expect them to be there for us.  We Expect them to "follow the rules", for lack of a better term when it comes TO the relationship.

Now, obviously, some people tend to have unrealistic expectations.  That's a given.  But for the most part, we have learned, growing up to have expectations.  And a lot of them are just the normal part of life.

But there comes a time when you do have to let certain expectations go in your life.  Sometimes it's just not the way it used to be, or the way you want it to be, and when there becomes a conflict like that in your life, you have to learn to let go of those expectations.   If something happens in your "expectations" and you feel they are not being met, you can do one of two things.

One, you can fight for those expectations, discuss those expectations and/or demand those expectations.  But that's not always a good option.  Sometimes you have to learn to let go.

And B, sometimes, it's also just opening up your eyes and seeing that person for who they are.  Not who you want them to be.  When you can do that, and learn to let go of those expectations, it is such a freeing feeling!   When you can look at someone and think to yourself, "This is who this person is" and not think about trying to change them, or make them into someone they are not, you are a much better person for it, and a tremendous weight has then been lifted off your shoulders.

And sometimes, even "normal" expectations have to be let go as well.

Now, I'm not saying that you should let go of all expectations in your life.  That would be unrealistic.  It's just letting GO of the expectations that are unrealistic or become unrealistic, or are causing conflict in your life, is where you can better your life and psyche for it.