Bottom line, I loved every minute!

Where do I begin?....Let me start with my initial feelings about this weekend. In order ,they went from: excited, tired, stressed, overwhelmed, happy, exhausted, sad, bittersweet, rested. Those emotions begin on Friday and go til Monday.

If I were to go into detail about this crazy weekend, I could almost right a book. It was that memorable! To sum it up quickly, there were 12 people staying under one roof. Seven of them spanning from 9 months to 5 years old. And about the same amount were sick with either colds, ear infection or the occasion random throw up..,[insert long pause]... I have to chuckle when thinking about now. It's something that down the line we are going to wish we could do again. (w/o the sickies) No matter how hectic or stressful it was, I love my family!

200 people!

SIDE NOTE: That is crazy! 200 people know about Persnickety Photography...so freakin' happy! Thank you everyone for spreading the word about Persnickety!

CONT. READING FOR THE GOOD STUFF: For those of youwho read my blog on the reg. should remember my post towards the end of December expressing my feelings a little but more bluntly then normal. For those of you who have just started reading my blog here is what was said...

" My business resolution, like I mentioned above,is to get my name out there! It can be quite frustrating to have such a passion for something and not be able to share it with others! I love photography, especially catching little moments or big moments that you can treasure forever."

Even though this was not typed in CAPS or bold originally, it should have been because I was shouting it from the mountain tops, asking the LORD to throw something my way, anything at all. I was going bonkers, knowing that he had given me this talent with no one to share it with. (Besides family & friends, so I really can't say no one) There was def. some anger sent his way, which I am sure he was aware. And I'm sure he was getting a kick out of it because he knew what was coming. Well sure enough, only 2 months later and loads of patience that somehow came over me (did not pray for it FYI<---never pray for patience, it will bite you in the butt) he answered my prays and did he do an awesome job at that!

I have been given such a huge opportunity with the Maple Leaf Mission(www.themapleleafmission.com). I am loving the idea of giving someone the "gift of pictures" that they will have forever. Then on top of that, being able to do work with B'More Abilities Special Arts Center (www.BASAC.org)...wow. If that's not an answer to a pray, I don't know what is.

I am looking forward to what the future holds and all that it has to offer. I know that the LORD will continue to be right there with me, helping me to grow and trust in HIM. I also hope all of you will continue to be there as well! Your support and thoughtful words mean so much to me. Thank you again!

What a great hubby I have...

not to brag or any thing, but I think he is amazing! He trusted me enough to buy me a new engagement ring. I was quite surprised on V-Day when he gave it to me. It brought me to tears<--I am a complete whimp and cry at almost everthing now.

So the back story as to why I am on my third engagment ring: The first one, somehow or another lost a diamond out of it. It was not insured so we were not able to have it replaced. The third was just a gemstone ring that we got while we were in D.C for a weekend getaway. My lovely daughter got hold of the ring and lost it. Now, I am on to my third ring. I need to get it sized ASAP so I don't lose. But anyways, I love it and my husband was very thoughtful to get this for me. I'm a pretty lucky gal!

The Maple Leaf Mission

My sister, Robyn, was the one who brought this to my attention last week. She had heard about it through one of her special needs groups and thought it was an incredible opportunity for me. Doing something I love, photography, and hopefully making a huge difference in someone's life.

"The Maple Leaf Mission offers 3 types of free photography sessions, our sole purpose is to make those moments with a loved one be it a final moment session, a your moment session or a deployment overseas/homecoming reunion some of the best moments that you can look back on for years to come"

[below are descriptions of each sessions taken from their website www.themapleleafmission.com]

FINAL MOMENT SESSIONS

For a “Terminal Prognosis or a Life limiting Diagnosis” (All age groups) of a family member, yourself or friends, even of a pet its hard to want to pick up your camera and capture that wonderful look of love, that single tear from a mother holding her child or just capturing that pure joy of any family together after such a devastating diagnosis.

Pictures are often the only tangible items that we have left when our precious gifts are taken away or altered in any way. We know how hard this time is for you and your family and know that memories are one of the most important things a person can keep forever.

We would be absolutely honoured to help you in making those memories come true. We offer Photography sessions absolutely free of charge at any time after a prognosis/diagnosis has been made. These sessions can be taken from your/their healthiest to your/their sickest and there is NO limitation on who has to be terminally ill to qualify as we accept any/all situations and any ages. This session does not have to be taken during your loved ones final moments but can be requested if that is what is needed.

YOUR MOMENT SESSIONS
These sessions are our newest sessions that are for the families/individuals that have any debilitating or life limiting illness's a genetic condition or disability but are living your everyday life to the fullest despite your diagnosis. Examples are you have Epilepsy Seizures, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Paralysis, Stroke, Blepharophimosis, you are in remission from cancer (best reason to celebrate) you had open heart surgery, you had an amputation, any sort of transplant (kidney, heart, lung, liver ) we cannot name every condition but we will be sure to add to the list as we make memories for families, sky's the limit for this category.

MILITARY MOMENT SESSIONS

For homecoming reunions we strive to capture the pure love and joy that you show the world when you see your loved one for the first time after their journey abroad. Its absolutely unbelievable capturing those beautiful faces that light up as a mother or father, sister or brother, son or daughter even aunt or uncle walks off the airplane after a long period of time of not being able to see or touch each other.

For deployments majority of individuals are overcome with their own emotion that the camera is often forgotten in their hand as they give kisses and hugs for the last time as they leave for their deployment.

Now, tell me how awesome is this? I just got the email, approving me joining this evening. My only thought I have right now is," Am I going to be making my sisters proud?" They both are blessed with children with disabilities. Yes, I said blessed and I think they would agree. Anyone who has a family member with a disability knows the joy that they bring. Even through all the difficult challenges they are hit with or the huge amount of worry or concern for them, knowing that life is going to be a tough struggle, they would have it no other way and are giving thanks and praise to the Lord for blessing them with these beautiful children. And I have to say that out of all of my nephews and my one and only niece, Nathan and Lauren are capable of walking into a room and lighting it up! Their smiles make you want to melt and their kisses are just the sweetest. And every accomplishment they make or every time they prove the doctors wrong, you just want to cry tears of joy! So besides making a difference in someones life, which I truly hope to accomplish by doing this, I hope that Robyn and Kati will be proud!

Babysitting Rocks!

I guess I should re-word by saying, " Babysitting kids who are the definition of perfect, rocks!" Not much to really say about this mini-session except, this is my nephew Jadyen, who is pretty awesome. He is rocking his mohawk and seems to be loving life. He filled my house with those cute little baby smiles and those looks that only a baby can give you that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Above are some pics I took of him while watching him...enjoy!

Windy...yep that about sums it up!

Let's start off about the couple and all then will get to the weather report that day.

Pete and Caryn have been dating for 6 years now and by looking at the pictures you can tell how much they adore one another. They kept the session fun and relaxed by keeping each other laughing. Inside jokes here and there as well the occasion, " what do we do now? " expressions that would be quickly followed by laughter. They were both pretty willing to do every crazy thing I asked them to do, for example, stand in the middle of the road, that then led to people hollering out of their cars. So that ended before it really began. I can't but hope these two end up spending the rest of their lives together. They make each other so happy and I know neither would have it any other way.

Now onto the weather. WINDY. I have never taken pictures outside with a whirl wind behind, beside me, in front of me and even above me. It was insane outside. Some how or another I was able to keep the camera still and catch some pretty cool pictures. But I will have to say that if you are planning on having your session outside and it's basically tornado weather besides the rain and the tornado, we may have to reschedule.

With the editing, I wanted the pictures to be fun and have a more modern feel. The pictures themselves, have slight angles to them and a bit relaxed, if that makes sense. I wanted the B&W images to have a crisp look to them in some while in others I played up the shadows and did a bit more contrast. Above are a few of my favs...so enjoy!