Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you are spending it with the ones you love!

♥ j

My dawg.

Have you ever had some one that was truly down for you? I mean really down. Someone who was on your side even if you were wrong? Well, I got one of those. Meet my cousin Harley. This lady right here is my GIRL! My cousin Harley happens to be one of my very best friends. She is exactly eight days older than me (now that we are both over 28 I never let her forget that fact) and I have known her since birth. We have been through everything together. When we were teenagers, I would see her every summer. Sometimes we would fight like cats and dogs, other times we would defend each other till the end. There was one time she came to live with me and my family, and MAN were we in heaven! We went to a new school together and since neither one of us had made any friends all we did was hang with each other, passing notes in class and laughing at our own private jokes. It was priceless. Harley always has, and always will be my partner in crime, my number one homegirl, my ace boon coon. I love you HD. Take care.

~peace

j

We're Back.

Hey Hey Hey! We are back from the land of eternal sunshine, and let me tell you we had a blast! We had SO much fun, I almost did not want to come home. The weather was off the chain, 80+ degrees the whole time we were there. We got a much needed dose of family love, the kids got to play with cousins they did not even know they had, and I got to see cousins I hadn't seen in almost 2 years. I have tons of pictures to go through, and as soon as I am done sifting through them I will post them up that way you can enjoy the LBC through my eyes.

For now though I will put up some pictures I took from a mini photo shoot I got to participate in for "America's Next Top mini Model**".

Look, I told this girl to work it, give me some attitude...

and that is exactly what she did...

I put these pictures up, not just becasuse they are cute, but also as an example for your own photoshoot. Your pictures will only come out good if you relax in front of the camera and let your inner personality shine through. I can't make miracles happen, but I can take what you got and help you floss it...These were done low budget, on a dime in the middle of the afternoon, with nothing but a fancy hat, fancy shoes, and definitely a fancy attitude. Now if this lil' mama can work it, I KNOW you can. (BTW. This one is my favorite)

So the next time you are in front of my camera, or any other camera for that matter, pop your colla, and show me what your workin wit!

Much love,

~j

**There is no real "America's Next Top mini Model" program. That is just something I completely made up for this blog post. ***No animals were harmed during this photoshoot.

j

Here comes the sun

Hey my people. Whazzzzz uuup?!? **Remeber those commercials? They were so funny. There was a series of them, and once you saw one you just had to try saying it, and then of course once you said it, the person you were saying it to automatically said it back to you with their own spin. And then you had to say it back to them wilder than they said it to you. You could go on like that for while, whazzzz upppping, until someone finally got tired and said "no really, what's up?" Crazy. But anyway...**

As for me, I am getting out of town. I am traveling to Cali for the next few days to soak in some sun, take lots of pictures, oh...and visit family too. Yeah man. I am so excited. I've been checking the weather and it has been in the 70's and 80's. I can't wait!!! It's been pretty cold here in Colorado, which is typical for January, so I am all too excited to get out of the snow. To take my shoes off and let my feet burrow in the warm beach sand. I can't wait! Although, if you had to be in the snow, rockin these hot mama shoes would warm up any situation....

I love these shoes, they make me feel about 10 degrees hotter than I really am. I was thinking about blowing this picture up and hanging it somewhere in the house. I think it would be tight. But anywhoo, I will update you when I get back from my sweet sun kissed travels.

Holla!

{ j }

9 in '09

It's here, 2009 is finally here.

In case you haven't noticed, we are well into our way of 2009. Taxes will be due soon, Easter hats will be adorned, summer break in full effect. But wait! I know, I know I am jumping ahead of myself, we aren't that far in, but it's funny how time flies. I can remember all of those things from last year and it seems like we were just gearing up for them then. But anyway, I digress.

Right now, since 2009 is still fresh out the box, I wanted to talk about resolutions. Basically I am through with "New Year's Resolutions". Everyone does them every year and I'm sayin, what is the point? I say I want to lose weight, and be a better person every year. But somehow I never seem to make it past January. And, I don't know about you, but I feel kinda bad when I mess up and don't follow thru with my resolutions. I guess that is why I use the same ones every year. So anyway, I have decided that instead of setting make or break resolutions I am going to set goals (genius, I know, but I can't really take the credit for this I got it from my Pastor). I am setting 9 goals for 2009. 9 things that I would like to have achieved by the end of 2009. 9 things that I am going to pray about and strive for all year long. 9 things that will be ok if I don't hit, because goals are positive. Now, to be perfectly honest, 9 days in, I am not done with my list. I have gotten started. Just haven't finished. I will share what I have got so far.

1. Bring at least one person to Christ

2. Build my photography business, become more knowledgeable with a flash.

3. Install a family night

4. Get (and stay) organized in everything I do.

5. Complete at least one personal photo project (with boldness).

6. Read my Bible everyday.

Ok, so I am not done, but I think I am off to a very good start. What about you? Have you thought about your new years resolutions? I encourage you to change them into goals. Jump on board with me get 9 for '09 and feel good about them.

Also, because it doesn't feel right with out a picture, here is some miscellaneous minutiae for you.

blessings,

~j

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I know this is a bit late, but I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Mine was blessed. We spent the entire day at home with our little family unit, and it was wonderful. I cooked (with a little help from Joe) and everything turned out great.
Next is the the New Year. I am so excited because I have this "old school" party to go to. I am going to go with the 80's for my old school attire. There will be prizes for the best dressed. You know I am trying to win that! There will also be a prize for the best old school dance. I don't know what I am going to do there.... my mom suggested the hustle...I am not even sure I know how to do that properly. I am open though, so if you have any suggestions leave me a comment. I will definitely have to post pics of the party. I have a feeling it is going to be off the chain!! I am not sure if I will put myself up, we will see. Anyway, I hope you all have a good new years eve. Be safe, and I will holla at you soon.

Peace.
j

The 411

Wow! There is so much going on right now, I can hardly keep up. I really don't know where to

begin, so I will just jump in....

The day after Thanksgiving was my birthday. I will not put in print on the galaxy wide Internet how old I turned however, those who know me know what's up. But I will say it was my best birthday ever. My husband blessed me with something I had been talking about for weeks, and really thought I was not going to get. I spent time with friends and family, and ended the night with a full stomach. What more could anyone ask for???

My baby boy turns one today. It is really amazing, the transformation one makes from newborn to toddler. I mean you go from not being able to hold your head up, eating only milk, and sleeping most of the day to running on your own two feet, eating what ever you can find (on the floor and other places), and hardly taking a nap at all. A child's first year is really an amazing journey. I am a little sad that my man is growing up, but at the same time I am excited to see the person he is becoming. I guess this is one of God's tricks for making you have more children. It's like my body yearns for that squishy little newborn, even though I know they don't stay that way forever. While my mind is screaming "NOOOOOO, are you KaRazy!?! Quit while you are ahead." My husband actually wants another child. I don't know how I feel about that. Actually I do know how I feel, and it's not quite the same as him. Sometimes I am really torn. So, let's just leave it at that.

Christmas is coming up. I have not even started shopping. I am so worn out by the girl's parties, the baby's party, my bday, thanksgiving....I shopped for their birthdays and now I have to shop for Christmas.....it all seems endless. I am truly struggling to get in the holiday spirit. Of course when I go to Walmart the massive crowds of people do not help. I just barely put my tree up last night, and that was only after my oldest child begged for 3 days straight! Don't get me wrong, I am not a Scrouge, I love Christmas, but man, can a sista get a break!!!?!!

In other news, I did have an awesome photo shoot the other day. It was for the cover of a soon to be released book written by an amazing author named Amanda Stahnke. Amanda's book is called, The How To's of I Do's Finding your Mr. Right, and because she can describe it better than I can I will give you the link to check it out ... http://www.webspawner.com/users/freedomwriting/index.html. Amanda is a very talented writer, and I believe this young lady's future is looking bright. I took all the photos of her on the site. Here are some pictures from our time together.

We were on location at the home of a friend of Amanda. People, this house was off the chain!!!! Literally. It was so big my house could have fit in it's kitchen. It could have been on HGTV it was that nice. Right when you walk in the front door there was this beautiful stone wall that when the light hit it it was like magic. I was truly in love. Thank you Mrs. V for letting us roam your home and take pictures. It was a place I won't soon forget. { p.s I see your home in my dreams ; ) }
Here is the shot that made the cover.

Here it is as the cover.

Doesn't it look amazing!?! Yeah, that's what I thought too.

So go check out Amanda's book, especially if you are in the market for Finding your Mr. Right.

~peace

j