Gratitude

is the cure, the anti-drug.

is the art of life.

is the heart of life.

There are reasons for gratitude everywhere.  Gratitude is yours to discover.

And when you find it… you will also find that an attitude of gratitude replaces regret, self-pity, and worry.

A challenge to you:  Find five things everyday for the next week that you are grateful for.  Write them down (or, if you are a dorky photographer like me… photograph them!).  You will find that you go through your days searching for things and people and moments to be grateful for.  Your eyes will never be the same again.  Your soul will never feel the world the same again.

My gratitude for the day:

I am grateful for where I come from.  Humble, tiny, old house.  Poor, working, single momma.  Infinite, unconditional, powerful love.

My old bedroom window….

(click to make larger)

Off to dreamland,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“It’s not what you look at that matters.  It’s what you see.”

Henry David Thoreau

I’m pretty sure I was born with a book in my hands.

I have been an obsessive reader since the ripe old age of 2. (Momma can verify… no joke!)

I used to walk around the house with my nose buried in a book..  as a kid I even learned to hold a book while performing household chores.  I often got in trouble in school for getting so lost in books that I tuned out the teacher!  (Well, and maybe I just “happened” to be tap dancing my feet under my desk at the same time and causing a racket.)

I have been known to spend whole days in libraries and book stores (though I prefer the smell of old books over new ones.)

And my ultimate book nerdiness claim to fame:  I scored a 36 on the reading portion of the ACT… the first time I took it.  (Which totally saved my behind because my score on the math portion was less than stellar…. okay… it downright sucked.)

So, when I got invited to read a book to Mrs. Burnett’s Kindergarten Class, I was overjoyed to share my first true love with them.  This morning, I read “The Acorn and The Old Oak Tree” to a group of the best behaved 5 year olds in all of E. E. Jeter Elementary School.

(photo credit:  Laura Hightower)

Afterward, we had a fascinating discussion about storms where I learned some incredible facts regarding recent storms in Millington.  For instance, did you know that volcanoes grow in backyards around here?

Neither did I.

It’s amazing what you can learn from a kindergartener.

In honor of those sweet little imagineers, I have complied a tiny little fraction of a list of  my favorite childhood books.

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

The Sneeches, by Dr. Suess

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein

Underwear! by Mary Elise Monsell (the original 1988 version)

(And of course, anything containing Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, or Rainbow Bright!)

Off to find a book to snuggle up with from my massive bookshelf!

Bing

Ninja Quote of the Day:

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book (or be a ninja).

~Author Unknown

To my blog stalkers… so sorry for the lack of entries lately.

To put it simply… I got ninja kicked by surgery.

Recovery took way longer than I anticipated and it put me into a deep dark funk. Lucky for me, I have great photographer friends who came to town last weekend and helped me to get my groove back.  I even managed to work on a project that has been put on a shelf since February!

I am not sure of when the project will be finished… I am just sort of  letting it speak to me.

The name of the project is “Say”, inspired by the John Mayer song.  (I have a not-so-secret HUMONGOUS crush on that man and his way with words and the guitar).

The project will feature “sets” of photos, with two to three photos per set, that encourage people to speak their hearts to the world around them.

A sample of what is to come:

Off to spread some sunshine,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“There are two kinds of light – the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures. “

~James Thurber

Oh the things that childless people do to their pets on Halloween….

Happy Halloween from  Beau-nana!

Off to watch some scary movies and eat lots of junk food…

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“Ninja can only use their special disappearing powers in combination with a smoke bomb.  This is not negotiable.”

-entertheninja.com

Remember this GORGEOUS couple?

Well, they decided that although they both have fabulous big city careers, they were going to raise sweet baby Wyatt to love his country roots.  So, we embarked on a project for his Cowboy themed nursery.

My clients and future clients should know, when you invite me into your lives to photograph you and your family,  we are about to build something special.

I look beyond the purpose of one session.  I like to envision not only what will be hanging on your walls from what we create when I photograph you, but also what will be added to it in the future.

For the Devers family, we started with this image (taken before the baby was born).  I knew that Lindsey was going for a retro-cowboy theme, so I set out to find some itty-bitty boots.  I looked high and low and then, by chance, found a pair in mint condition at Once Upon a Child in Cordova.

I knew I HAD to find a saddle for his newborn session, and as always, my AWESOME BFF and fellow photographer, Angie Hayes, came through for me.  She managed to find this gorgeous one for me to borrow (and thank you to her generous friend for the loan!).

And a couple of Saturdays ago, we created the most recent piece for his room (mom and dad supplied the precious little hat and boots this time):

I’m telling y’all, this had to be the most chill 6 month old I have ever photographed (he comes by it honestly.. his parents are way laid back).  He let us change his clothes a half dozen times and create all sorts of blackmail material for his senior year of high school…

Thanks again Lindsey and Brian, I love watching Wyatt grow!

Off to watch the sunrise with my Beau-Dawg,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“Ninjas invented the internet. All of it.”

-entertheninja.com

Things I learned about having surgery:

There aren’t any cute male nurses in Memphis (unless you count my hubby!).

I will always be my momma’s little girl and she will always be a nervous wreck anytime one of her babies is hurting.

Stitches are itchy.

Talk your husband into stealing a heated blanket from the hospital and hope he listens better than mine did.

“Discomfort” is actually a hateful word that doctors use instead of EXCRUCIATING pain.

There is no longer any such thing as being a modest and sexy wife to my husband anymore because he has had to help me to the bathroom every few hours since Thursday night.

There are some goooood drugs out there and there are some that don’t work at all!  Figure out which ones are which BEFORE you let someone cut you open.

Dr. Kutteh is my personal hero.  He not only saved my ovary… but he also correctly diagnosed some major issues and worked hard to resolve them all in this one surgery.   He is dedicated to helping The Doc and I get that baby that we so desperately want.

Small towns are amazing places where people still pray for each other and cook meals for the sick.  You couldn’t pay me to move from this place.

The most beautiful words to wake up to:  “It’s not cancer.”

And last,

I have the sweetest most attentive husband on Earth.  He has thought of everything… from telling me that my little surgery hat matched my eyes, to protecting me from bossy old mean nurses,  to literally carrying me all over the house, to making sure we had those “bendy” straws so that I wouldn’t have to sit up to take my meds, to ALWAYS being ready with the exact number of pillows I need, to waking up at all hours of the night to make sure I had my pain under control and to help me to the bathroom,  to making the perfect cinnamon toast….

photo taken by The Doc (my Ceej, that is) via his blackberry:

Off to a drug induced dreamland,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“Be as patient as possible. If speed of travel is not important, take as much time as you can. Impatience and the resultant hasty movement that it encourages are the greatest dangers to the person who must move silently without detection.”

-Stephen K. Hayes

Lily and Zach Johnson come from the kindest, most community loving, salt of the Earth people you can imagine.

Many of the Johnson’s friends moved away from this small town after high school, but they stayed to spread their sunshine to a community that they love so dearly.

I know one thing for sure… this town is a happier place for me because I am lucky enough to know them.

I’m also blessed to have had the opportunity to create some photographs of the sweet beams of light that are Zach and Lily…

A variation on one of my signature shots:

And one that says it all…

Off to dreamland,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

Simple way to tell what time it is without a clock is to call the local phone operator and ask them. Simple, but effective. Don’t tell them your name.

-entertheninja.com

Sweet baby Jackson has one of those “little man” faces.  He looks as if any minute he will start talking and hold a pleasant conversation about the weather or politics.

He is already a gentleman… he never peed on me and even though he did poop… he didn’t aim at me.  (Which is more than I can say about most of the sweet little stinkers I photograph!)

Welcome to the world, precious Jackson.  May you grow to be strong and kind and true.  May you love the life you live, and those who live it with you.

Oh, and if you ever have to suffer the indignity of having your big sister play dress up with you… may you remember that you can always get her back by putting spitballs in her hair and reading her diary to her boyfriends!

And one last sweet sweet little smile…

Off to dreamland,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at. “

~Maya Angelou

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with writer Christina Morgan at the local Starbucks.  She was writing a series for the local paper, The Millington Star, about women in business.

My momma was a great businesswoman, and so although I was worried I would say something dumb, I agreed to do the interview to make her proud.

Most of you who know me, know that once you get me talking… it’s hard to stop me.  I ramble and ramble and jump from thought to thought and talk circles around the poor soul who happens to be listening.  And there is no filter from my brain to my mouth, so there is no telling what sort of offensive and ridiculous things I am going to say.

My momma says it ‘cuz I’m “creative”.

Really, I think I’m just nuts.

Anyway,  dear sweet Christina had her editing work cut out for her.  I think she did a pretty good job at keeping me from embarrassing myself.

You can view her article here.

the crazy started early... Bing age 4.5

Off to spread some sunshine,

Bing

Ninja Thought of the Day:

“Nobody puts Bing in a corner”

(tee hee)

-Patrick Swayze

Paige and Davis are two very lucky children.

They have a mom like I do.

She listens to them.  Laughs with them.

She doesn’t try to tell them who they should be… she just loves who they are.

Best of all, she has a sense of humor about her kids.

All of which are necessary qualities to possess when you are the mom of two superheroes…

Off to dreamland,

Bing

Ninja Quote of the Week:

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”

Robin Williams