The Dora bag that changed my life...

If there were points given for being obnoxious, I would have earned 20. At least. I was hinting in all those ridiculously obvious ways. Websites left up that happened to have an ad for the camera sale they were having. Random acts of conversation that went something like this…
“Did you know there are some really affordable D-SLR cameras now? Wow. I wonder what it would be like to get one of those on your birthday…”
Yep. Thank you Captain Obvious.
He knew. Anyone would have known. I wanted a D-SLR camera something fierce.
By the time the big day rolled around, I was ashamed. I was so disappointed that I had been so fixated on something we didn’t actually need. I felt completely and utterly selfish.
And then a big Dora the Explorer bag (picked out by my little lady) sat staring back at me when I turned around from assembling a chocolate chip pancake breakfast. (Our birthday tradition) I knew. I tried to convince myself that I didn’t, but I did.
I opened up a D-SLR camera. And at that moment, I wanted to take it back. I felt horrid for how much I had pushed – I felt like I’d asked for too much. I felt like a jerk for wanting something so badly. I mean, I wasn’t starting a business or anything.
My husband convinced me to keep it. He spoke kind words and reassured me that it was a good decision and he got a great deal.
And I vowed to bless people with the camera.
So I started taking pictures. Whenever, wherever. I scoured internet sites, I read books and I looked for any possible way to learn any possible thing about photography. And on July 4 of my 27th year of life, I woke up and I knew. This is exactly what I’m supposed to do.
And here I am. I still have a lot to learn. But in this past year, I realized that this life of capturing the beauty of others, of pressing pause on love, I have found something I did not know I could love so much. And I get to share this gift with the world.
I still can’t believe it. My camera bag now holds a different camera than one year ago, (that one is now in the hands of a very talented young lady that you’ll be seeing more from soon) but it is still filled with hope and joy and all sorts of awesomeness. And gratitude.
For a husband that believed in me. For a man who would give gifts that reach into your soul and say, “I believe in you.” For little children who doubled as my incredible models. For parents who would listen to my crazy dreams and help make them happen. For a brother-in-law and future sister-in-law who were willing to take a risk and let me take their engagement pictures. (Yep, I still tear up when I recall that conversation) For friends who would leave me comments on facebook and see something within me that I wanted to doubt. For the opportunity to chase dreams. For people to cry with you when you doubted them all. For friends that would agree to take over roles in your business. For old friends who became clients and became precious friends. For people who saw something in my pictures and took a risk to ask me to document their beauty. For people who proudly declare that one day you will have the amazing privilege of documenting the moments surrounding them pledging their lives to one another.
So today, even though the sky hovers in a gray that seems to infiltrate your very soul and my heart is saddened by some of our circumstances, and my mind is going slightly batty from a small-ish house that holds us captive during the illnesses that currently consume my family, I also have so much to be grateful for. And I am filled with a wonder to what God will so graciously do in this next year. I can’t believe He’d put me in something that taps into my heart and soul and is better than all I could have dreamed…


I'll end with a photo. Here's one from my time this weekend with a precious lady named Hilary, who is basically a part of our family and sees the world and captures it in a beautiful way. You'll hear more about her soon and you'll get to see more of her work... But on our photo-venture this weekend she caught a couple of me to practice her mad skills. So here's me, in classic form on one of my last days as a 27 year old... Laughing those grandiose laughs that typically make me double over.