Out of Service

If you've been following my Twitter, you know that my computer has been through quite a bit this week. Long story short, it caught a nasty virus this weekend and ended up having to go to Computer Heaven. It was time to upgrade anyway, we just weren't planning to do it yet. But we did and now I'm back! I have been busy with lots of sessions. So as soon as I can edit them, I'll be sharing some fun pics!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day! Talk to you soon!

:) Shandon

Sarah is having a baby... 2, in fact!

My dear friend, Sarah, is having twins. She is due in August, but we're pretty sure those little baby girls will arrive in July. You know how twins can be! She already has a little girl (Gabi) who is in Brayden's class and a little boy, Kennedy. We have several shoots planned... maternity, birth story and newborn. But she wanted to have an extra maternity session before the babies get really big. :)

Sarah is so naturally beautiful, I felt she needed to be photographed outside surrounded by flowers. In fact, we planned it the night before at a Mother's Day dinner at church. I'm so glad we did the shoot the next day, because all those pretty flowers are now gone. My parents have 10 acres in Alachua that blooms every spring -- some of the most beautiful wildflowers with the brightest colors! Those colors with Sarah's skin was breathtaking! It was so organic. But once they are gone, you just have to wait until next year. We had a great time... although those darn blackberry bushes and ants will get you! OUCH! Still, despite all the discomfort, we managed to get some great shots.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Shawn's birthday. And now that Brayden is 3, he really "gets" birthday parties. So I decided to plan our own little family party. We put up a sign, got balloons (which Brayden insisted were HIS balloons) and party hats and baked and decorated a cake. It was so much fun planning this with Brayden! He picked out a Thomas the Tank Engine card for Shawn all by himself. We went to Publix together and he picked out the balloons, cake and icing... Chocolate and Chocolate--no big surprise there! And, of course, it was COVERED in sprinkles!

It was really fun to have it be just the three of us. I was reading Jaime's blog the other day and her hubby, Jason, just celebrated his birthday last week. It was cute because we had both planned a small, immediate family only gathering, and I totally agree with her--it was the best! I love to gather with friends and family and have big parties with lots of food. But sometimes it's just nice to keep it small and simple. So that's what we chose this year. I made Shawn sausage biscuits and cinnamon apples for dinner (his fav!) and chocolate cake for dessert. As much fun as we have with big celebrations, the small ones are some you'll hold dearest to your heart. It reminds me of the song on my website, These are the Days by Van Morrison.

These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there's only future
There's only here, there's only now

Oh your smiling face, your gracious presence
The fires of spring are kindling bright
Oh the radiant heart and the song of glory
Crying freedom in the night

These are the days by the sparkling river
His timely grace and our treasured find
This is the love of the one magician
Turned the water into wine

These are days of the endless dancing and the
Long walks on the summer night
These are the days of the true romancing
When I'm holding you oh, so tight

These are the days by the sparkling river
His timely grace and our treasured find
This is the love of the one great magician
Turned water into wine

These are the days now that we must savour
And we must enjoy as we can
These are the days that will last forever
You've got to hold them in your heart.

My OVERDUE Chicago Post

I am on the Children's Ministries Team at my church, Trinity United Methodist in Gainesville, FL. Last fall we started planning a trip to Chicago to go to a children's ministries conference at Willow Creek--a MEGA church just outside Chicago. A couple weeks before our trip, David Jay started a tour of 8 cities to promote his new project--Show-it Sites. I went online to the Freedom Club Forum and saw that he was going to be in Chicago on Thursday, April 24th. I was going to be in Chicago April 22nd to the 25th! I was so excited when I got the evite to come to the Preview Party that Thursday night! He is phenomenal and so innovative! Here are some pictures from the party. (Thanks, Kenny Kim, for the great shots!)


Don't you love this chandelier???

It started raining outside and it was so cozy inside. I thought it would be cool to get a shot looking in. Before I knew it, Kenny went outside and starting taking pics. How cool that we thought of the same thing! I mean, Kenny is such an awesome photographer!!! :)
Sharing some cards! Me, Kenny and Morgan
The whole group... From L to R: DJ, Barry, Kenny, Steve (owner), Morgan, Greg, Dawn, Me, Tom, Priscilla, Sally, and Bob. (Dawn and Bob Davis are awesome photogs who have shot fabulous events like Eva Longoria and Tony Parker's wedding! They have also done many sessions with Oprah!) Everyone was SO sweet and friendly. I fit right in, except that I used "y'all" -- it was so obvious I was from the south!

Me and the man himself! Thanks, DJ, for such an awesome time! Can't wait to get my site up and running!!!

While there, my girlfriends and I had a fabulous time hanging out in the city! Here are some of the highlights of what we did in our spare time. These pics are of me, Aubrey and Roxanne. Emily came too, but spent the first day with her sister, so there aren't any pics of her. :(

Aubrey and Roxanne in front of the "drop of quicksilver" -- this is all Aubrey cared about seeing while we were there!

Fun with the camera!

Lunch at Giordano's -- YUMMY pizza!
There were these gorgeous arrangements all througout the city. I just loved seeing all the tulips and daffodils everywhere!

Me and Aubrey! Thanks, Chicago, for great time!


We had dinner at Fulton's on the River and this was the view! It was so yummy and the atomsphere was the best!

My Photo Session with Jaime Smith of JS Photography

Blog: check

Website: check

Professional portraits of me: CHECK!

How fabulous are these? I figured it was about time to have some professional portraits taken of me for the biz. And there was no one else I wanted to do them than my dear friend, Jaime Smith with JS Photography. Jaime and I go way back. WAAAY back. We met in elementary school and have been friends ever since. And no matter how long it's been between seeing or talking to each other, it's as though we were just together. I have some pics to prove just how long we've known each other. I brought these pics with me to my shoot and Jaime scanned them in. (I'm just using her files since my scanner isn't working.)

So here we are in 1st grade at some performance where we were dressed up as hula girls. How cute are we? I guess we were pretending to do the hula, but we look like we aren't quite getting it. What's up with the stiff arms???

Fast forward several years and here we are on our senior year spring break -- Crescent Beach in 1994. Oh what a week of fun that was! Just like Jaime said in her blog about this picture... you think you're fat then and look back and realize that you really didn't look too bad at all! I mean, HELLO! I don't see any cellulite on that hiney!!! I would totally lose the hat though. But that's another story all together! Like our round wire-rimmed shades? I'm tellin' ya! We were hot tamales! :)

I LOVE this next one! How crazy that we were taking pictures of each other and here we are today in the photography business! Jaime has the same picture of me, but wasn't able to find it. Still... there's proof we were photo nerds even on our spring break! :)

Now we are married with kids and still in touch. Like I said, I can't imagine asking anyone else to photograph me for this new part of my life. Jaime has been through plenty of others, it just makes sense for her to be a part of this one too. We had so much fun driving around Green Cove Springs together and taking all these shots. She is so very talented (as you can see!) and such a cool chick!

Jaime, thank you so much for photographing me for my new venture! You did an amazing job! What's that saying? You have to stay friends because you know too much about each other? Oh, the stories we could share with our grandkids one day! XOXO

Click below for a slideshow of my photo session with Jaime!

My Mother's Day

Before Shawn and I had Brayden, there were a couple years I really wanted a baby. I mean REALLY wanted a baby. Ask any member of our family and they can vouch for it. It wasn't that I couldn't conceive. It was more like Shawn couldn't conceive--the idea of being parents. He just wasn't ready. So when Mother's Day would roll around, I desperately wished I was being honored too. I wanted to be a mom so bad. And although I celebrated the other moms around me, I could feel that tug at my heart--a tug from a baby who wasn't mine just yet.

Once Brayden was born, I couldn't wait for my First Mother's Day. And when I woke up that Sunday morning, it was as wonderful as I could have imagined. There were no spectacular events or gifts, but it was perfect! It was my day to celebrate our bond.

Yesterday I celebrated my 4th Mother's Day as Mommy--although it didn't quite go like the First Mother's Day. I really felt like a mommy. My alarm went off at 6:15 this morning (the Children's Ministries Team has to be at church by 8:00am on Sundays). Sometime between 6:15 and 7:59, I turned off my alarm. I have a funny way of incorporating my alarm into my dreams, so at some point I just decided to stop hitting the Snooze and turn the whole darn thing off. Next thing I know, it's 7:59 and I have one minute to get out of bed, put in my contacts, get dressed, put on my makeup, brush my teeth, make coffee, eat breakfast and get to church. I did maybe three or four of those things. I arrived at church looking like a real life mommy.... no makeup, hair pulled back and searching for coffee. And once I put it in that perspective... that this is really how being a mommy can feel... I was okay with the whole thing. I ran around the Sunday School rooms like normal, finally departing between 12:30 and 1:00 this afternoon. Ahhh... time to go home, relax and start this Mother's Day!

I get home and Shawn isn't there. He's out with his mistress (aka his bike... that's a different blog post all together! lol). I text him and see when he thinks he'll be home. He calls me and says he's been out for about an hour and he'll be home by 2:30 at which point he needs to go out and find some work clothes for his new job. So we piddle around the house for a little bit until Shawn gets home. He showers and we head to Butler Plaza. Once we enter the automatic doors of Target, the rest is somewhat a blur. It's full of "I can't find my size," "These cost too much," "Are these my only options?" We walk over to Old Navy. I hear more of "These don't fit" and "I don't want to pay that much." In between all of this, Brayden can't seem to keep his flip flops on. He kicks them off. "Mommy, get my fwip fwops!!!" A few minutes pass and off they fly. "Want wear my FWIP FWOPS!!!" If you want to wear them, then stop kicking them off! What a concept! It's Mother's Day. Shouldn't I be the one shopping and trying on clothes? Is that wrong of me to think?

He finally chooses three pairs of pants, we pay for them and leave. We head out to my parent's house, stopping at Publix on the way. I run in. Alone. By myself. No one but me. It was kind of theraputic after our shopping trip! I grab a few things and we head out to the farm. Just the drive out there is calming, so my little therapy session continues. Brayden has passed out in the back and so there's no "fwip fwop" demands being shouted my direction. Peace. And. Quiet. We get to my parent's house and I carry Brayden inside. He wakes up briefly, so I sit in the rocker to help him transition from sleep.

I rock him steadily and rub his back. Before I know it, he's fallen back asleep. He fell into such a deep sleep that his thumb isn't even all the way in his mouth anymore. I just look at him and am quickly reminded of how it felt on that First Mother's Day. How he fit perfectly in my arms, like God made him from my mold. And now, three years later, he still fits so perfectly in my arms. I just sat there and rocked and felt his little body move up and down as he breathed. That made my Mother's Day. There were no extravagant gifts, no breakfast in bed, no foot massages. But the period of time when I held him and wanted to be nowhere else in the entire world.

"We do not remember days, we remember moments." Cesare Pavese

I confess

I have been bad. I haven't been a good blogger. Not even much of a blog stalker. A blog SLACKER is more like it! Have you ever had the feeling like time is passing waaaaaay faster than you need it to? Last I checked, we were just celebrating Valentine's Day, and here we are in MAY! I mean... COME ON! It's already getting warm and I haven't even bought a new bathing suit (nor do I have any sort of desire to step foot in that section of the store, much less actually try one on). A lot has happened in the past several weeks. I've held some sessions (Note to self: Post on blog), Brayden's little friend, Tucker, turned 3 and I took pictures of the party (Another note to self: make slideshow and send to Jill), I flew to Chicago for a conference AND met the FABULOUS DAVID JAY (Hello... how many notes are there? Okay: make slideshow of trip, post on blog, email Thank You note to DJ and send picture of the two of us). I came home, after a loooong and very delayed flight, and am just now starting to catch up on sleep. I could go on and on, but you are probably bored already. ;) Need I say more... it's been an active few weeks! So here are some random shots...

Brayden just hangin' out at home Cleaning his bike just like Daddy
Can you say TOURISTS?

Move over JLo

And last but not least....

Me and David Jay at the Show-it Sites Preview Party! WOO-HOO!