I realized that it had been over a year and a half since I had last updated the images on my website so I made it a priority a few days ago to update them. It seemed fitting as it also was time to go back and reflect on 2010. It was a fantastic year for me personally and professionally. It was really fun to go back through the year in pictures. I am really proud of the work that I did this year both from an artistic and business perspective. I felt that I stepped out and challenged myself creatively as well as put some business processes in place that continued to improve the customer experience. And I am happy to say that this pride is backed up by the customer feedback that I received so thank you;) Another “improvement” that I made this year and am very proud of, is my work/life balance.  Much of this has been from necessity with the number of activities that my family was involved in this year but I feel that everyone and everything got an “even” amount of my focus.

I have not posted any pictures in this post as I hope that you will peruse my new galleries on my website HERE. I have set it up a bit differently and separated it into studio and location galleries. I have also added a feature presentation from one of my “day in a life” sessions. I chose a bunch of pictures from one of these sessions in order to tell the story.

The wall art gallery has not yet been updated but I PROMISE to have some of the pictures of art that I have done this year post in there soon.

I am so excited for 2011. I have a number of client wall art projects going on in the first part of the year, lots of amazing shoots, the WPPI trade show in Las Vegas in February and then plans are beginning for a few vacation “day in a life” sessions this summer. It is going to be a fantastic year and I am so ready to get it started!

Thank you to all of my clients for a great year with you! As you know, it is my absolute pleasure working with you and your families and capturing your memories! I hope that all of you have an amazing 2011!

I think that Barb is fantastic. Her focus on eating to nourish and energize our bodies is something that I feel is extremely important. Although food and healthy food has always been extremely important to me it is even more important as I put food on the table for my family (approximately 6 times a day). I want my children to go to school with as much energy as they can to learn but I also need to be able to do this efficiently. Barb’s classes have offered a lot of solutions for my family (and I tweet about the yummy things that we are eating a lot…the recipes are typically from Barb).

Fev and I are planning a few things over the rest of the year so stay tuned!

1. We have not been groomed for motherhood. What I mean by this is that unlike other cultures where getting ready for mothering is the focus of a young woman’s upbringing, our culture aims to get us ready for “success”. So I know that I am not alone when I say that I have found becoming a mom is something that I am still learning. The most important lesson of all is that I MUST let some stuff go, I will not be perfect. I also have no desire to prove anything to others. I actually find strength through humility and find my close mommy friends appreciate my honesty about imperfection.

2. Having a child means double duty on all fronts. In mothering you will be conjuring up at least double the energy expended in a day to meet the needs of both you and the child. In addition, your will be facing double the expenses and often half the income. My advice is keep it simple; take really good care of yourself in terms of fitness and nutrition. Use your time as a mom as a reminder that daily personal reflection will help you focus on your personal values and try not to get drawn into the competitiveness our society perpetuates.

3. It’s okay to screw up. Social pressures that define the perfect mother/career woman set us up to constantly be dropping the ball, so to speak. Learn to laugh at this because unless you have a caregiver for each child and a personal assistant you will come up short a lot. Before becoming a mom I was able to control most of my life. Learning that I can’t control a lot of things with my kids has helped me grow immensely as a person.

4. Motherhood changes your life. Although this one is straight forward, I have never seen more blood sweat and tears from the women I know once they become moms. I have seen young teen moms turn their lives around, career women reinvent themselves, women build businesses, grow change and evolve in miraculous ways. Motherhood is a bumpy road of self-discovery I am very blessed to be on.

5. Motherhood Can Change the World I believe that mothers are meant to change the world because their investment in the world around them is driven by a deepened awareness. Once you experience the successes and failures of mothering your own child, the pain of mothers around the world has new meaning. Mothering has taught me that I have the power to make change in myself and in the world around me!!

These are all points that I think about and work on everyday and I know I am not alone. It is always nice to be reminded though…ease some motherly guilt.

This weekend is both difficult and awesome for me having lost my own mother (the person that I looked to to teach me how to be a better mother) but then awesome in that I am a mother with two AMAZING children who continue to teach (challenge) me. I love to learn and be challenged and will continue to grow and develop with my children!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Another change in light of a few documentaries like Food Inc., Sharkwater and End of the Line as well as working with Barb Thomas of Love 2 Eat, I have been continuing to learn and change the way I feed my family. Anyone who knows me, knows that this has always been something important to me but changes that I have made this year are eating at least one vegetarian dinner per week in an attempt to consume less meat. Trying to understand where my meat and fish come from and only purchase from the Sustainable Fish list. I have also been trying to consider the packaging and distances traveled in my food purchases (this was also brought up at my Social Series last year by Kerry Kaufman of Green Plan-it).

Another change I that I have been making is changing to online magazine subscriptions through Zinio or directly from magazine companies. I have to admit, I still subscribe to my paper version of Fitness magazine as I like to go through this when I am working out. Gradual changes;)

On the business front, I have always been focused on minimalist packaging in an attempt to be green. This is something I am going through again as I am in the process of changing my logo on everything. I am also currently going through system and process improvements to eliminate paper and do more online.

It is definitely a process and something that I do think is important (particularly as a parent) so I just thought I would share some of the changes that I am making. I would love to hear feedback on unique things you are doing.

The support that this foundation offers is so important.  It was absolutely apparent how this group had helped each other through difficult times with an understanding that is not completely understood by families/friends.  Part of the reason for my support of this foundation is that I have always felt like I was not able to really support my mum very well.  My mum was incredibly strong and extremely private and the last thing that she ever wanted to do was to have her children “mother” her.  Fortunately my mum had an amazing support system in the nursing/teaching community in which she worked (as well as her family, of course) but I am sure that a community of women who had gone through similar experiences would have been very valuable to her.

Thank you BCSC for giving me to the opportunity to work with you.  Thank you to the ladies that participated…your strength was unbelieveably inspiring.

I have to give Jess complete credit for putting it all together.  Part of the reason that it has taken me so long to get this done was because it is hard to find the time to learn a new editing program/process and secondly I really prefer to be behind the camera!  There are a few other things that I want to incorporate at some point but here is the first attempt…click HERE to link to the video section on my website.

I should finally have a few posts up this week about a few things that I have been eluding to. Exciting week!