Andrew~ Senior

0909andrewsr123
Originally uploaded by ksphotomama

Just a sneak peek of Andrew's senior portrait session. I used to work with Andrew's mom at the YMCA when Andrew was like 10 years old. He's grown into such a great guy and I had a blast doing his photos.

The part of photography I love most is getting to share those moments with people that are such an important part of their lives. I bet almost everyone can remember who shot their Senior Portraits, or the photoshoot they had for their engagement or with their first baby. What an honor to be the one that someone chooses to capture those moments. And when I get to walk into a client's home or office and see the photos I took hanging on the wall- wow! How cool is that??

Down the path

Down the path
Originally uploaded by ksphotomama

Took Punky to the park for a few quick pictures. This is one of my faves.

Today is the day...

For a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Yay!! Fall has officially begun!

Randomness...

My brain is so scattered lately. I have a million different things going on. (As usual) And none of them relate to eachother, really. Here's a peek:

I'm decorating a chair for The Red Chair Affair to benefit the Wichita Orpheum Theater.


I recently did maternity photos for my sister, and have an engagement shoot coming up soon.


I'm reading a book called Clean Food and it's causing me to want to completely empty my kitchen and start all over.

My in-laws are coming to visit for the weekend. This makes me want a larger house.

My job is getting crazy busy which is great. I love what I do and enjoy going to work each day but there's just not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to accomplish!

I'm also building websites for MKC Web Design. It's so much fun!

Boogie is in 5th grade this year which means starting band. She's also been asked to play on a somewhat elite MAYB basketball team. I'm so proud of her!

Punky is full-on toddler and all that that entails. She's a destructive force to be reckoned with on a daily (hourly, minute-by-minute?) basis. But she's also getting really fun...and funny! That kid cracks me up.

So, to answer your questions...yes, I may be a little ADD/ADHD, or schizophrenic, or just plain certifiably nutso. (I'm pretty sure that's a clinical diagnosis!) But other than that, all is good in my little corner of the world.

Lame

Ok, I pretty much SUCK as a blogger. I try. Really, I do! During the day I'll think to myself, "I should really write a blog post about such and such." And then I never do. I figure there can't be many people out there interested in the menial tasks and errands that make up most of my day to day life. Heck, I'm not even that interested most days.

But, I have made a commitment to myself to get my camera out each day and learn something new. So, I'll try harder to share some of that here.

Last weekend Boogie and I took a Mother/Daughter trip to Oklahoma City. We had a great time having dinner, going to a movie, museums, a horse show and Frontier City. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has an amazing collection of Dale Chihuly's glass work. Here are a few photos from the exhibit. I HIGHLY recommend checking this out if you're ever in the area. It is truly breathtaking!

Finally!

After years and years of being told, "you should do this professionally!" about my photography...I've taken a leap of faith and started The PhotoMoms with a wonderful friend of mine. We have a blog: http://www.thephotomoms.blogspot.com/ and a website with our portfolio and where clients can proof and order right online at: http://www.thephotomoms.com/

I haven't quit my day job (and don't intend to!) but I'm hoping this will be a fun side venture. We're booking sittings now if you need family or event photos! YAY!

A new adventure!

My awesome friend Tammy and I are finally making this photo hobby thingy a semi-business! Check out www.thephotomoms.com and www.thephotomoms.blogspot.com for mo' info!

One week...and one pound.

Well, I finally decided to get serious about getting back in the gym. I've been 7 out of the last 9 days and this morning, I was 1 pound HEAVIER than when I started! Uggh...

OK, so obviously I've got the workout habit started, time to kick the healthy eating into high gear! I've been taking a cardio/strength circuit class. It's a 30 minute class but I take 3 cycles of it back to back. So- 90 minutes of cardio and weights every day. Do I need to switch it up? More cardio? More weights? Alternate between the two from day to day? Or just have a little more patience?

I'm a very goal oriented person and it frustrates me to no end when I set a goal and feel like I should be able to achieve it NOW. I know I'm taking the right steps. And I know any progress is better than none. Well, logically I do anyway.

So here's today's progress report:
Original Goal- Lose 30 pounds.
Pounds Lost- +1
Pounds to Goal- 31

Not the results I was hoping for after a week of hard work but I'll keep at it and hopefully next week will treat me a little better on the ol' bathroom scale.

Brain Freeze

I haven't written in a while. It's not because I haven't wanted to. I've just had a bad case of writer's block. I haven't been feeling that creative juice flowing. I forced myself to finish editing photos from a wedding I shot almost 2 months ago. (Don't worry it was a freebie...they didn't pay me to sit on their pictures for 8 weeks!)

Lately I've been just feeling "blah". I don't know how else to describe it. I have no energy, I have no motivation. I watch way too much TV. I just feel...lazy. I need to change up my diet, I need to get back in the gym, I need to start reading more. But that first step is always the hardest.

My boss is in the process of writing a book and lately it's the only thing I have been really excited about. For a little sneak peek, go to: http://www.chadphipps.wrfa.com and click on the group speaking link. He has an amazing concept in mind and it has such great potential to help so many people with WAY more than just money issues. Maybe if I started to actually put it into practice in my own life I could start to pull myself out of this slump!

On a good note, I have a weekend planned to go away to KC with my very best girlfriends next weekend and I cannot wait! Maybe that will be the jumpstart I need!

The diet begins...today!

So after seeing the photos from the lake this weekend, it's time to get myself back in the gym! I have been running the last few months as I trained for the OKC half marathon but my eating has been rediculous! Time to get that under control!

So, for posterity...here's a picture from our jet skiing adventure. Hopefully this will be the "Before" to my much slimmer (and tanner!) "After" pictures coming SOON!

Summer is HERE!!

We borrowed a Jet Ski from a friend for the weekend and headed out to ElDorado Lake with my bestest friend, Jamie and her family. We rode, swam, cooked out and just enjoyed the summer and our time together. Chris took a few spills and the day ended with about 20 feet of tow rope getting sucked into the impeller. But, we got her all fixed up today and are seriously considering getting in one more day on the water tomorrow.

Yay- summer is finally here!

Check this out!

I'm helping with a fundraising event for Eric Trogdon, a motocross rider from Oklahoma City who is currently kicking Cancer's butt!

Check out the blog and add it to your blog lists please!

www.trogdaysofsummer.blogspot.com

Pass it on!

Irritated...

NOTHING around my house works the way it is supposed to. *IF* I get a free moment without a child destroying something, crying, needing changed, fed, helped with homework or some other minor crisis.... I try to spend a few minutes doing something I enjoy. Working on photos, working in the garden, etc. BUT- I can never find what I need. And when I do find it, it's broken or missing a part or I can't find the cord to it. Grrr...

Some days I want to move to a deserted island where I can organize everything just so and nobody will touch it, or move it, or break it. On my island there would be rows of shelves and drawers and file cabinets. All perfectly organized. All labeled. All dusted and clean. I would know where everything is. I would sit down to do a project and everything I need would be right at my fingertips in perfect working order.

Hey- a girl can dream right?

I did it!

I finished the OKC Memorial Half Marathon!!

Follow this link to read all about it and see my official time!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ks/okcity09/jwhitepksi

Marathon Weekend!

Well, this is it. 2 days away from my first ever 1/2 Marathon. I'll be running the Oklahoma City Memorial 1/2 Marathon to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with the Team in Training.

It has been a great experience and I'm so excited for race day. Time to see if all my hard work has paid off!! I'll post pictures and my results here after we get back from OKC.

If you would still like to donate- click the Team in Training button on the right!

What's the story, Morning Glory?

Photographic evidence that I am not completely devoid of a green thumb! I planted some Morning Glory seeds in planters on my front porch to grow up the supports and vine around them. They are starting to come up along with the strawberry plants (50 of em!) that I planted a week or so ago.

Now if it will just dry out enough to get the rest of my garden tilled up and planted. Stupid Kansas spring!

Alert

Dictionary.com defines "Alert" as:
a⋅lert 
1. fully aware and attentive; wide-awake; keen: an alert mind.
2. swift; agile; nimble.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (New International Version)
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

I know that I am not always as "wide awake" as I could be. I tend to be flaky, disorganized and stumbling through my day. The funny thing is, in my work life, I'm responsible for organizing a successful financial management practice. I have calendars and checklists and goal tracking sheets. But ask me when the last day of school is, or when Punky's next doctor appointment is and I'll have to dig through a pile of papers, check my email and wrack my brain for 6 days before I can give you an answer.

When it comes to my faith, I feel like every day I am waking up a little more. I learn more each day and I am striving to become a woman of courage, to be strong in my beliefs and the way I choose to live each day.

My challenge to myself is to become more alert in my personal life. Better organized, more "in the moment" with my girls and less distracted.

If you haven't seen the FlyLady's website- check her out. www.flylady.net She has great organizational tools for getting your house in shape as well as other areas of your life. I used to be an avid follower and when I was, my house looked much better and I felt better. So, back on the wagon I go!

Welcome!

I've moved here from www.theunlikelyhousewife.blogspot.com due to the fact that someone else had a very similarly named blog. In fact, check her out here: http://theunlikelyhousewife.com/

I'll get everything up and running soon!

Happy Birthday Punky!

How do they go from this...to THIS...in a year??

Continuing Education

I just finished an 8 month long bible study at church and have been debating whether to get into another class or take a break for a while. In the back of our book is a list of character traits to work on on your own schedule and I think I'm going to concentrate on those for a while and not jump right into the time commitment of another class with school getting out soon.

So, today's trait is Accountable. The dictionary defines accountable as:
ac⋅count⋅a⋅ble   /əˈkaʊntəbəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-koun-tuh-buhl] Show IPA
–adjective 1. subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable.
2. capable of being explained; explicable; explainable.

Matthew says:
Matthew 12:36 (New International Version)
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

Another verse:
Romans 14:12 (New International Version)
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Accountability is something I think we all struggle with. We know what we need to do but are we holding ourselves accountable to actually do it? I can put the laundry off a little longer and watch TV. I can put off doing the errands my husband asked me to do so that I can have lunch with a friend. When we're not accountable to the responsibilities we have and the promises we make, we disappoint the people around us. And more importantly we dissapoint God who knows the great things we are capable of accomplishing. At the end of the day, if you had to report directly to God about how you spent your time, what you chose to do, and the things you said- would it make a difference in the way you went through your day?

Garden Extravaganza 2009- The Beginning!

Here's the "Before" shots of the backyard. "After" shots to come gradually as I make progress!

Our yard has been very neglected for a long time and allowed to get way too overgrown. It was bad when we bought it and between deployments, floods, marriage, pregnancy, and baby...well, you can see it hasn't been a high priority. No more!

The simple things...

Why do we buy hundreds (thousands?) of dollars' worth of toys?

Garden Extravaganza 2009!

Coming tomorrow!!

We are getting the tiller from my mom and dad. Flowers, veggies & fruits will be planted. Brush will be burned. Photos will be posted...stay tuned!

Cannas!

Today I went to pick up some Canna bulbs from a guy who was selling them on Craigslist. I got 20 for me and 10 for my mom for $1 a piece. When I was at Walmart later, they had them for $5 a piece...good deal!

But here's the great part: I emailed him later to thank him again and say it was nice to meet him. When he emailed me back he said he was glad I was so excited about them. It turns out, these bulbs have quite a history. Each fall after the foliage dies off you dig up the roots like potatoes and store them for the winter. You always have more than what you planted and they multiply each year. These bulbs came from his plants which he has been growing for about 7 years in his back yard. But that's not where the story starts for my little Cannas. Apparently about 65 years ago his grandmother traded a gallon of milk and some farm fresh eggs from her farm in Arkansas for a handful of bulbs. His family has been growing and passing down plants from this same set of bulbs for decades!

What a neat thing to be a part of. It will be so much fun to plant these and watch them grow. But it will be even more fun to retell the story to people who see them!

The greatest man I ever knew...

This is my grandfather on my mother's side. My "Papa". He was my hero. Still is really. Almost every day I think of him at least once. I miss him, I hope he's watching over me, I hope he's proud of me.

He was one of those people in life that others aspire to be like. A man of the highest moral conviction. He and my grandma (Grammy) adopted my mom later in life and so they were retired by the time we came along. Papa was always the first to volunteer when I had a school field trip and every kid in my class would want to be in his group. I stayed the night with him almost every Saturday night. We'd watch HeeHaw and play Dominoes and eat Arby's because there was usually a coupon in the paper. On Sunday mornings he'd make me oatmeal and cinnamon toast cut into strips for dipping. We'd go to church and meet up with the rest of the family and then have lunch at the counter at the original NuWay on Douglas.

He was a Quaker but served in WWII as a medic. He collected flags and had one from Nazi Germany that he climbed a flag pole and "liberated" as he told the story about 20 minutes after Hitler had spoken nearby. He donated blood regularly and had pins he had earned from hitting certain milestones. He was a ping pong GENIUS. One family legend is that he once beat my mom blindfolded. He was ornery as sin and loved being one of the kids. He would skip through the store with us or plop right down on the floor next to my sister and join her in a full-on temper tantrum until they would both be in fits of giggles. He would read to us for hours and hours on end. And his homemade icecream was to die for.

So many of these things seem trivial but those are the things that make up a person. All the little details. All the little pieces of himself that he gave to his family and his grandkids. Those are the kinds of things I want to give to my family, memories. Memories of things that may have no meaning to the outside world but mean the world to them. I want to be the kind of person he was. Heck, I want to be half the person he was.

Gardening time!

I'm so excited! I'm actually going to put out a garden this year! I wanted to do one last year but given the fact that I was due to give birth right in the middle of planting season... it didn't happen. Probably for the best!

I went to the library today and got a couple of books. We have a HUGE backyard with a section already fenced off for a garden. I cleaned out my strawberry planter and pruned one of the raspberry bushes back. Lesson learned: need gardening gloves before any further pruning occurs!

So here's what I'm thinking of planting:
Peas
Carrots
Lettuce
Watermelon
Sweetcorn
Peppers
Beans
Strawberries
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Spinach
Okra

I think that's it. Maybe. We also have a pear tree, apple tree, raspberries, mulberries, grapes and blackberries growing somewhat wild in our yard already. I need to figure out how to take care of them all so that they actually grow some fruit and don't just look like weeds taking over the entire yard! At one point there was an orchard back there and obviously somebody who owned the house at some point planted a lot of things- I just don't know what half of them are!

So- it should be an adventure. I'm picking up burn barrels tomorrow to burn off the clippings and brush and a rototiller to plow up my little plot of agricultural heaven!

Proud of my hubby!

Chris has been selling individual health insurance for Reserve National for a year now. In two weeks we are going to an amazing all-inclusive resort in Playa de Carmen because he earned the trip in a sales contest.

Today we got the company newsletter in the mail with the year-end standings. My husband who had NO prior sales experience finished in the top 50 agents in the company and was the #6 rookie agent. I'm so proud of him! He loves his job and loves being able to help the people he works with and it shows in his success.

Congrats honey and here's to an even better 2009- I always knew you could do it!