She is the rock to our family.  The one piece that holds it all together and keeps us going strong.  She is the air that we breath.  The wind that blows in our hair.  The laughter in our hearts.  She is our everything.  Without her I don’t know where we would be.  Nora. Mom.  Nana.  Aunt. Daughter.  She is everything good in life.  My momma never seizes to amaze me with her strength.  She moves on with fierceness.  She doesn’t even realize she is doing it but she does.  She has seen so much sadness in her life and you would never even know.  She lives to make each and every one of us happy.  That is her destiny.  If I could even give just one iota back to her, I would.  But how could I?  I strive to be the mother that she has been to me my entire life.  But I don’t even compare.  She has a heart of gold.  She wears it on her sleeve and though sometimes it has gotten the best of her she never ever takes it off.  She never shows how tired she is or how weary her life has been.  She is no longer living in Arizona because once again she has chosen to do the better thing, by helping take care of her father who is an amazing 102 years old, in El Paso.  So far away from all her family that she now has.  Her children that love and miss her so much and her grandchildren that ask for her daily.  She is over there because that is where she needs to be at this time.  And that is OK.  She needs that.  She needs to be with my grandfather during this time and cherish those moments with him.  But we miss her sooooo much.  My heart aches that I can’t have her come over and stay the weekend or go to lunch or a movie any longer.  You know the chick flicks that my honey HATES watching with me.  It’s tough.  But she is doing her duties like a wonderful daughter should.  And I hope one day I can be that wonderful daughter when she needs me most.  I’m actually afraid that I won’t succeed.  But I hope she knows that I will try my best, in every possible way to make her happy and to make her proud.  This woman is the best!!!  THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!! And I love her to pieces!!!!  Momma.  You are my world.  I could never ask for anything more from you than what you have given me and I am happy to call you my mother. My everything.  My rock.

My nephew, Jerry, got 1st place for making the best medicine bag.  And I can totally see why!!!

He also got a medal for Hardest Worker.  Wow.  I think my kids could learn a ton from him!

Jos, always laughing.

All Jerry’s medals.

And my crazy talented nephew, Jerry.  Looks just like his dad.

My doll Chelsea.

This is what it is all about.

My adorable love bug, Leilani.

She is quite the poser.

My mom loves to collect nicnacks. 

She is also one fabulous seemstress!!! Like THE BEST!!! 

Yes, my family is crazy.

He is my love. 

Oh it’s soooo hard to get everyone to cooperate.  Seriously.

The grandkids minus Nate and Dominic.

What a handsome fam.

And of course the photographer needs to get in on it. 

They love their nana so much! 

Kisses.

The worlds largest lighter.

Jazzie lover.

How could you not love a face like this??!!!!! 

My daughter, Leilani, has had hair down past her waist since as long as I can remember.  Before school ended she couldn’t stop talking about donating it to someone who needed it more than her.  ***tears***  She finally decided to give it to Locks of Love in hopes that someone out there could enjoy it as much as she did.  She did request to give it to my friend Victoria because she knows all that she is going through and wanted her to have it.  But I had to explain to her that we couldn’t choose who got her hair but whoever it was sure will love her for it.  God Bless her for trying!! Leilani is my heart and soul.  She is such a loving person and has such a great big heart.  There needs to be more people on this earth like her.  She is going to change the world one day.

Here is another installment of what is good out there for books.  I am a romantic.  A shear and utterly helpless romantic.  I love romance novels.  I really do.  How lame am I you ask??!!! VERY!!!  Give me a book with a cute love story and I am all over it!!  Nora Roberts Vision in White was one of those books.  It was so cute because the main character was a photographer that never imagined getting married.  It just wasn’t in her plans.  Not because she didn’t want to but because things just so happened to turn out that way.  So she decided to lose herself in photographing weddings.  Hmmmmm this sounds all too familiar.  Anywho she ends up finding the man of her dreams and well I will let you read the story to find out what happens with that.  Cute, cute, cute.  Gotta get the sequel to this story and curl up on my comfy couch and read into the wee hours of the night.

#82 Sell my rental house.  Crossing this goal off my 101 in 1001.  I bought my very first house about 8 years ago.  It was a cute, little, cozy house.  Just big enough for me and my 2 children.  When I decided to move in with my boyfriend a few years ago I rented it out.  Things fell through with the renter and I tried to short sale it.  Well long story short that didn’t work out as planned and it ended up foreclosing.  So now I can cross this off my list.  And if there was a goal for ruining your credit for the next 5-10 years I could cross that off too!  Trying to keep this post light hearted.  I was really sad about this especially after how hard I have worked my whole life to keep my credit in good standing.  Well that weight is now finally off my shoulders and I can move on.  Onto new adventures in life.  We live and we learn. 

And to cheer you up.  Here is a photo of a gorgeous doggy named Jazzie.  Such a love muffin!  She makes me happy!

#58. Purchase Show It Video to post slide shows on my blog or email clients is now completed on my 101 in 1001.  What a great way to show all your clients family and friends your special day!!!  You can personalize it with their favorite song and make it extra special!  Great marketing tool!!!  Check out the few that I have made along the way.

Lorrayne & Ruben’s Wedding

Julie & Joe’s Family Session

 Napa Valley: Josh + Denise

Enjoy your day!!!

Another goal completed on my 101 in 1001.  # 79 Teach my son how to drive.  This was no easy task.  And I am not just talking about physically.  Emotionally this was the hardest thing for me to do.  My baby is growing up.  How do mom’s deal with this kind of stuff?  Six months of having him drive me around town to make his skills flawless was fun yet exhausting.  He is a great driver.  He has to touch up on some things, like looking both ways before moving forward in a parking lot (lol, what we teach our children to do before they walk across the street) you know, simple basics.  But other than that he is pretty darn good.  He passed his test with flying colors and is now the new owner of a driver’s license.  Watch out world!!!  I am so proud of my baby!  Be careful out there love.  I think about you every time you walk out of that door and get into your car.  Oh the worries of a mother.

I have completed many goals since I started my 101 in 1001 and I would like to post about the ones that I have completed to show that I am excited about it.  Any goal big or small is an accomplishment and you should be ecstatic about doing so.  I completed goal #2 Write on my blog every day for 1 month.  Whoa was this harder than I thought but once you get into it, it becomes easier as the days go by.  If you would like to see those posts you can find them between the dates of 1/10/2010-2/8/2010.  I rambled a lot and might have bored you to death, but hey, I did it!! And that is all that matters.  I do want to write on my blog at least 3-4 times a week to keep my audience entertained.  I mean i do have an audience out there don’t I?? (Crickets).  Are you listening to me?? (Crickets)  I thought so.  Even my own mom doesn’t read my blog! LOL!   But I am sure that’s because she doesn’t own a computer or have the Internet people.  Come on do you really believe my mom wouldn’t support me otherwise?  I guess I should write that down as another goal, buy mom a computer, set her up with Internet and show her how to use it!!!!  Yes people, I may have to write this down as a goal in order to make it happen.  My mother should be up to speed with the 21st Century.  I would be a horrible daughter if I didn’t teach her otherwise.  In order to keep up with postings I will schedule a day where I sit and write up a weeks worth of  work and pre-schedule it for your personal viewing.  Let’s say Sunday will be my blog writing day. So if you are out there and you are actually reading this.  Jot me down a line.  I would love to know if you have a blog that you update frequently.  And it’s nice knowing you aren’t talking to yourself.  So leave me some love.    I would love to hear from you!!!

It’s hard owning your own small business.  I mean.  It down right sucks sometimes.  Never in a MILLION years would I have EVER thought that I would be a small business owner.  When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher, a fashion designer and maybe even a singer.  But a photography business owner??? Heck no!  But I am here and I am happy yet need to really figure this out.  My business consumes me.  I am constantly looking for inspiration in my spare time and am looking for other ways to help my business grow.  It’s a full time job people.  How can I do this??!!  I work a 9 hour day at Corporate America and I go home and work another full time job with my kids and my photography business.  So I sat and thought really hard yesterday on how I was going to make this work.  Well I am going to hire one of my best friends, Miss Sonia K, to do all my booking, accounting and scheduling for me.  And then I will eventually show her how I edit my photos so that I can free up some of my time at home for my family.  It really is important to be able to trust the people that will be handling your money and being the front man in line with your clients with talking to them on the phone or meeting them for any kind of questions or discussions and I could NOT be happier with my decision.  I know Sonia will take care of my clients and be the voice that I need to help me along the way!  I am very excited about this change and I know it will be one very smart investment.  Sooo yayyyy me!!!  Thank you Sonia for helping me make my business grow and coming along for the ride with me.  I appreciate this more than you will ever know!  In other news finding the right fit for business partners is always something hard to do.  I needed a hair and make-up artist.  I know that this person’s responsibility is going to be like a receptionist answering phones at a large company or greeting people as they come in.  This artist is going to be the first person they interact with before they see me.  She needs to click with my clients.  Make them feel comfortable.  Make them feel welcome.  This is going to be thier first impression of my business.  One of my best friends, Tanya Moreno, has been pushing me along all this time to help my business grow.  She gives me encouragement.  She believes in me.  She helped me see the beauty in my photos that even I couldn’t see in the beginning.  Well Tanya is a beaut.  I mean inside and out.  But really I wanted to take her along this ride with me.  From the beginning.  I didn’t know how.  But I was going to do it.  She has been such a HUGE part of my business that I wasn’t gonna just leave her behind.  I thought maybe she could be my 2nd shooter because she is gifted.  She has the eye.  But one day we took a trip out to Flagstaff to photograph her Saucey Session back in May  and T did her own hair and makeup for her shoot and then turned around and hooked me up for a little fun as well for some head shots.  And whalaaaaa.  It hit us.  Right then and there.  She could be my personal Makeup Artist.  She is awesome at what she does and she loves doing it.  She never put makeup on anyone else but herself before and she was scared to try but I had faith in her.  I pushed her along.  I believed in her.  And here we are now working as a team and trying to build this business together one step at a time.  I know T will make it big.  She has that kind of passion.  She is so kind and caring and makes you feel so beautiful and that is exactly what you need to be in this kind of business.  She has a heart.  A HUGE heart.  And I just know that everything is going to work out in her favor.  I don’t know where I would be without her.  She is my rock.  She has seen the ugly and she has seen the good and she has continued to support me 100% through it all and I will do the same for her.  So cheers to a fun, happy and prosperous business together T.  I am so glad you decided to come along this journey with me.  I love you!

Hair and Make-Up by T

Yes I know we need to get her hooked up with a website and blog.  That is coming next.

T hard at work.

Admiring her work.

Such a doll! 

I love her interactions with my clients.

Thanks for everything you guys!!!  You make my heart happy!  Not only are you my best friends but now we will be partners in a dream I have and hope will come true!!!!

Wow.  It’s been over a month and a half since I have last wrote in my journal.  Where does the time go?  I live life in the fast lane.  Always going 100 miles a minute.  Hitting the ground running.  There is never a dull moment in my life.  If it’s not something at the 9-5 job, my photography business, or my kiddos driving me bananas I would probably be able to write every single day!  Ha ha.  I have completed some more goals and I will be posting those shortly.  In the meantime I have lots of exciting stuff coming your way.  I have finally found my logo that speaks all me and I am totally thrilled by it!!!  It is in the final stages of completion.  Next would be the branding of my website and blog.  I can’t wait to see what is in store for all of that.  On a different note, today I went to Church.  It’s been a minute since I have been there.  But I know I needed it.  I needed to sing and clap and feel all the love you feel from 3000 other people that are in the room with you worshiping God.  I.Needed. That.  And it felt great.  Pastor Lee talked about Tithing.  Now let me tell you a little something,  I used to go to Church when I was a kid, that is until my dad left my mom and she stopped going to Church all together, but that’s another story in it’s own that I probably will never share on here because I don’t like to focus on the negative… but either way I stopped going to Church when I was about 6 years old.  Never went back.  Never took my kids to church either.  I never stopped believing in God.  I prayed.  I believed.  But about a year ago I needed something in my life.  And I found a new Church called Radiant.  And it is WONDERFUL!  It is a Christian Church, although I was raised Catholic.  And I love it so much!  I enjoy going to Church.  It makes me feel good.  So back to my story, Pastor Lee talked about tithing.  I heard about this.  But never really knew what it meant.  Why would someone give up 10% of their income to a Church?  It’s hard enough for me to put 4% away in my 401k, let alone give up another 10%.  Why would you have to pay God?  Ohhhhh Internet.  I learned a lot today about tithing.  And I listened.  My heart listened.  I am going to try it for 90 days.  Pastor Lee says that he has a “Money Back Guaranteed” form that he would like us to fill out if he says in 90 days we do not feel like we have prospered by tithing.  He is that confidant that God will help us prosper.  Wow.  Really?  I never looked at it that way.  But then again, I stopped going to Church when I was six.  So how would I know what this meant??!!  I am going to try it.  I definitely don’t have the money to do this.  But lets put that in God’s hands and see what happens.  I have faith that he will help me through it.  I need help with my family at the moment and everything that is going on in our lives and if giving 10% can change that, then I am all for it.  No money in the world is more important than my teenager’s happiness.  Or me being able to quite my full time job so that I can stay home more with my family and take my daughter to dance class because she is 9 and she has never been enrolled in one because of my schedule.  I am willing to put all my faith in God and see where it takes me.  Ahhh.  Now that that is off my chest… I can sit back and relax.  Sorry didn’t mean to get all religious on you but just thought I would share and at least I can mark this Day 1 of my 90 days of giving to God.  I will come back and review this post and see all that has happened within the 90 days of writing this.  I’m excited to see what is in store for me when I let go of all my fear.  I am feeling pretty confidant right now. 

And since we are on the subject about giving, here is a photo of a VERY beautiful woman that I photographed last weekend who won my Boudoir Session giveaway in February.  Isn’t she gorgeous??!!! 

Happy Sunday!

Jessica was a little hesitant at first.  Not really sure what to do.  Posing was not something that she was used to doing.  I mean really, this has to be the hardest part for the client… and let me tell you it’s not easy for me either but something, something happens in the moment and the passion takes over on my part, on my clients part… and everything seems to come together beautifully.  Jessica was wonderful!!!  She has a spirit that really makes you cry out with joy.  A beauty that radiates from within.  I was soooo excited to know that the modeling agency signed her on after she presented them with photos from this session! Score!!!  Makes me all giddy inside.  For all the hard work she put into this.  For being that much closer to her dream.  Dream big Jessica and never give up.  The world is in your hands and you just have to make sure that you know exactly what you want to do with it.  You are amazing.  I wish you the best of luck and cannot wait to see what you have in store for us all.  Hugs!

Hello Gorgeous.

Rawr.

Absolutely love this one!

Cute Cute Cute 

Such a beauty!