The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Nelson Mandela

Yesterday I got a call from Lulu’s teacher notifying me that she had been dealing with a bully at school. Her teacher said that she had gone to the principle, counselor and the boy’s parents.

I had two thoughts: Why didn’t lulu tell me? and I’m so happy about how her teacher handled the situation.

This is not the first time we have dealt with bullies with Lulu. She was constantly teased last year by little girls who found her clothing style and personality weird. Labeled as a “peacemaker” by her teachers, lulu is the sweetest child. She doesn’t understand why other kids don’t get her. I could tell that this was affecting her self esteem last year. So I’ve done my best to be supportive and encourage her in things she loves.

I spoke with her about the new situation yesterday and she said “I just didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, so I didn’t tell you.” After explaining to her that the best thing was to tell someone and no one would be hurt, she felt better and opened up more. She felt better in hearing that her teacher, principle and counselor (as well as her parents and brother) were on her side.

I truly hope if you have a child going through this, that you don’t just turn your back and hope it goes away. It’s our job as parents to be involved.

Lulu is one of the strongest kids and I know she will prevail no matter what comes, but I love her positive attitude. I could learn a lot from it.

It started raining today and she said “Can I go play in the rain? It always makes me feel better!” I said “only if I can take photos of it.”

Of course she agreed. To further build her self esteem and encourage her art, we decided to start doing original photos of her for her room. I thought this would be a good chance to get some fun shots in the rain.

This is what we got:

I love this girl more everyday.

San Antonio Singer/Songwriter: Taylor Anne Crawford

This is Taylor…

She is a singer/songwriter , 18, drives a VW Beetle, currently writing her first EP with Producer Mack Damon, and has the best heart/passion I have seen in a musician in a while. I met Taylor months ago after being facebook friends for a while. When she asked me about doing a shoot, of course I was excited. We’ve talked about it for a month and knew we wanted to do something that would give her different styles/shots.

With musicians, I’ve found it’s best to give them a lot to work with. They have to use the photos for social media profiles, blogs, websites, album art work, EPKs, etc. If you limit the shoot to a few shots, they don’t get the most out of it.

We did her shoot out in Boerne on someone’s farm. We were only shooting for about a half hour when the storm started coming in. It didn’t matter. I think the rain clouds made for a great backdrop.

We even had the craziest drive back through the storm. I definitely enjoyed not only getting to do photos of Taylor, but also finding out more about her. She is a lovely person and I can’t wait to see what this life has in store for her.

Taylor, thank you so much for letting me get to know you better and allowing me to take such lovely photographs of you!

San Antonio Couples//Blaine & Mimi

I love working with couples… there is always a loving playful vibe. I shot with these two a while back and I’m happy to finally be able to share. I met Blaine almost two years ago when I assisted on a photoshoot for my friend Amber. A year later, she and I shot his band again together. I met Mimi through Blaine and so on.

They are SUCH a pretty couple and super fun. They didn’t mind doing anything I ask them to do.

Each photo of them was full of life and emotion. If I would have had to choose my favorite, it would have to be the b&w below. It’s perfect at showing the intensity between the two of them.

Thank you Blaine and Mimi for allowing me to photograph you guys!

On another note, the bag I modeled for Epiphanie (read post) is available for sale… click on the image below to check it out!

"Sometimes you gotta race Saturdays": Underwater fun

School is out, kids are home all day everyday… I spend my time floating between being so happy to see them more and dying for a small break from hearing “mom… MOMA… Mommy!” every 5 mins.

 

Yesterday I had so much work to finish and yet the kids kept asking if I would spend some time with them. Real time. Not just watching a movie or getting lunch… but fun time. The kinda time I miss as a grownup.

Of course it wouldn’t be right for us to have fun without taking photos of it all so I bought a cheap underwater camera and we took turns “guessing” where to shoot. These photos were my faves.

Although I had to work more today, it was worth it to take this time to let go. This is two weekends in a row that I have spent time in my swimsuit… I think I like it:)

On a separate note, I have been wanting something different for lulu’s room, but whatever I did had to go with her Hello Kitty stickers. I decided to do some art that matched the colors to balance the cartoon-like decor.

This is one of my favorite shots:

Happy Sunday friends!

Good for her vs. Why not me?

I can’t even accurately tally how many times I’ve heard women friends of mine speak of how hard it is to find good female friends.

The words caddy, jealous and competitive come to mind. I try and think of a time in my own life when women did not feel the need to compete and I can’t find it.

Grade school was the worst for me…

The mean girls.
Being bullied because my family was poor.
Not understanding why I couldn’t be friends with everyone just because I lived in a trailor park.

I became good at adapting and adjusting. Eventually I got to the point where social status and money did not matter.

Or.so.I.thought.

Why is it impossible for us as women to support each other.
It shouldn’t be.

Why is it so hard for us to be happy for another woman when things turn out well for her
It shouldn’t be.

Why do we think “why not me?” instead of “good for her”?

Why can’t we help one another be the best we can be?
We can be.

Being women who inspire and support means more than just sharing quotes that are deep and written by someone else, more than just the half-hearted compliments we pay each other when we get news our friends dreams are coming true, more than the occasional “cute shoes, pretty profile pic and the ever so flat “oh cool.”

These are things we often times feel we must say, to be nice. Well nice isn’t always genuine.

I think it’s time as women we reach into that place where we love to tuck our insecurities away and give it a stir.

I think it’s time we look in the mirror, not to straighten our mascara, not to make sure we are the best dressed girl at the ball….but to see what part about ourselves we love and face the fears that house our insecurities. Grab them and hold onto them until we are able to naturally overcome them.

Overcome them when your best friend tells you she just got news of being featured in a magazine and you first instinct is jealousy.

Rather than allowing the usual response be one of a half-A attempt to say something nice and retreat back into the fear box, picture how happy you’d be in her shoes and take that positive energy to inspire yourself to do more.

Overcome them when you see others being more successful at something you are still struggling to do.

Use their example to excite you for the future; to give you hope that if dreams can come true for others, they can for you as well.

Overcome that age old feminine nature that tells us to judge other women because they are different than us.

Difference is necessary for inspiration, for progression, for us to challenge ourselves.

Overcome the mean girl in us who wants to gossip about things we truly do not understand.

It always comes back around and we all know what it’s like to be on the other side.

Overcome the insane idea that we must be the best at everything.

It’s not logical. It’s not healthy. It’s not possible.

As women, we should not only be supporting each other, but we should be giving a little grace as well. I want my daughter to understand the importance of lending a hand to her girlfriends, the importance of not judging things from the outside, the importance of surrounding herself with girls that love her.

I am inspired daily by the struggles and triumphs of the women around me. I could be jealous (and at times I am) of things they do and have happen to them. I could not care if they were successful. I could make assumptions about them when I have no clue what they are going through. I could, and I have, but I want to be different.

I want to do my best to help and share and accept.

My daughter will not be a good person just because I tell her to be. She will not be a hard worker if she believes beauty is the only way to get something. She will not trust anyone, if those close to her are not happy for her.

She will however be the product of what surrounds her.

“We” will be the products of what surrounds us.

I say we all work on what surrounds us;)

I would love to hear your thoughts… so leave me a comment or send me an email!

KS

Trying to not bring my work home…as much.

 

So in this post I declared my New Years resolutions… or lack thereof. Being at the age of “almost 30″means I know myself pretty well and I just don’t follow through with empty promises of changing myself over the course of a year. I have always believed my life experiences will determine how I evolve and what I do or do not do when it comes to being a different person.

I do however believe in trying to better myself through goals. One of my goals for this year was to spend more time “disconnected”. Because I own two companies (both of which require a lot of online interaction) I am on my phone way too much and I find it hard to detach at times. Last year I decided to take times where I did not look at my emails and phone for an hour at a time during the day. Sometimes I am very good at it, other times, it’s work. But every time I do, I get a peace and a mini recharge.

Wednesday was an example of me trying to disconnect. I told Jonathan that when I got home in the afternoon, I wanted to ride our bikes to the park and read. Just me, him, a blanket, and a few random bugs mulling around.

In two years of having my bike, I had ridden it maybe 8 times.

Shameful. But I have made it a goal to ride more, read more and “disconnect” even more. A scary statement coming from someone who works in Social Media (a job that screams “stay connected”, but I believe it will make me a better person… better at retaining information on social trends, photo trends and perfecting my own craft of photography.

This is me trying.

1. Trying to listen to my husband without looking at my phone… so that I learn more about who he is, who he wants to be, who he wants me to be. Actually “hearing” him.

2. Trying to embrace the silence so I can hear myself. To hear the voice within more clearly so that I may know more about who I am, who I want to be, who I do not want to be.

3. Trying to learn how to lean on others a little more; not try taking on the world alone so much. Sharing my fears, my hopes and my past to connect with others.

4. Trying to let more light than darkness in. It can be so easy to embrace the negativity that surrounds me sometimes… my own judgements, insecurities, my own mistakes; I have to hold onto the positives.

5. Trying not to take EVERYTHING so serious; have fun even if there’s still work to do. To make life easier and less stressful to walk through…for myself and the ones I love.

We had a great time at the park, and although it was brief, it made me want to do it more. I believe I will too, because I don’t feel like I “have” to.

All of these photos were taken with Jonathan’s phone…seriously love that. And I am still loving using the Lo-Fi app (see my post on it HERE).

Girls and sand and wind, oh my

“love builds up the broken wall and straightens the crooked path. love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides each of us is created of it and i suspect each of us was created for it”–Maya Angelou

i.love.the.beach. the sound of the ocean, the sand, the perfect sunlight… i would live there if i could. but I can’t, so I must settle for the next best thing and that’s living 2.5 hrs from the beach. last year I said I would go to the beach more this year… and so I am. trying anyway.a few weeks back I had a weekend where for the first time in months didn’t have a shoot scheduled. I decided going to the beach would be a great idea. Jonathan was touring north, east? somewhere in texas and I thought “what a great weekend for a girls day”.

How many of us always say “when I get time, I’m going to do something fun!” and yet that “time” never comes. We have kids, we have bills, we have jobs…

So.

Ashtin, Zel, Catherine and I all chose that we were going to do a beach shoot…in January…so we did.

I just wanted some time. Time to play, time to take pictures of whatever I wanted…time to hear myself think.

The drive there was a bit stressful but after getting lost a million times (i truly thought zel may give up if we said “make a U-turn” once more. I am glad we hung in there though.

We took photos with the wind, in the cold but it was worth it.

I got to know two lovely ladies more and it truly made me appreciate what a disservice we do to ourselves when we assume we understand who another person is based on some facebook statuses and twitter updates. We have no way of knowing what a person is going through while gazing through a computer screen.

This trip taught me that.

So thank you Zel and Ashtin. For listening to me talk (and gossip a bit), and share my opinion a million times, and share my fears and my mistakes….

And thank you for sharing a piece of you.

What have you been putting off because you don’t have time? I say you should do it now:)

Girls and sand and wind, oh my

“love builds up the broken wall and straightens the crooked path. love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides each of us is created of it and i suspect each of us was created for it”–Maya Angelou

i.love.the.beach. the sound of the ocean, the sand, the perfect sunlight… i would live there if i could. but I can’t, so I must settle for the next best thing and that’s living 2.5 hrs from the beach. last year I said I would go to the beach more this year… and so I am. trying anyway.a few weeks back I had a weekend where for the first time in months didn’t have a shoot scheduled. I decided going to the beach would be a great idea. Jonathan was touring north, east? somewhere in texas and I thought “what a great weekend for a girls day”.

How many of us always say “when I get time, I’m going to do something fun!” and yet that “time” never comes. We have kids, we have bills, we have jobs…

So.

Ashtin, Zel, Catherine and I all chose that we were going to do a beach shoot…in January…so we did.

I just wanted some time. Time to play, time to take pictures of whatever I wanted…time to hear myself think.

The drive there was a bit stressful but after getting lost a million times (i truly thought zel may give up if we said “make a U-turn” once more. I am glad we hung in there though.

We took photos with the wind, in the cold but it was worth it.

I got to know two lovely ladies more and it truly made me appreciate what a disservice we do to ourselves when we assume we understand who another person is based on some facebook statuses and twitter updates. We have no way of knowing what a person is going through while gazing through a computer screen.

This trip taught me that.

So thank you Zel and Ashtin. For listening to me talk (and gossip a bit), and share my opinion a million times, and share my fears and my mistakes….

And thank you for sharing a piece of you.

What have you been putting off because you don’t have time? I say you should do it now:)

Love notes: two

So today I share my second love note to Jonathan and some other love notes from some awesome peeps who decided to join:) It always makes me smile when people share genuinely… out of a desire to “just share” and not out of obligation or pressure to fit in or keep up. There are no rules, no judgements on these, just admiration for the courage it takes to show the world how we each see love.

In our own perfect way.

These made me so happy to be doing this!

Mine is something special to Jonathan and I… I usually say “come give me a kiss” and he says “i’ll meet you in the middle” I shot this one also with my iPhone 8mm:)

Stephanie‘s to her soldier husband made me cry:

Jen‘s was a dedication to the start of new and exciting love:

Nic‘s was adorable and candid:

Becky chose to write a note of hope for a future love:

Every one of these videos make me believe in giving everything I have to the person I love. Thanks ladies, you inspired me today.

Wanna know what this whole love notes thing is? Find out by clicking HERE🙂

I will continue to share more as this project continues:) Anyone who wants to participate, just send me a link or video!

On another note, this is a sneak from a project I am eager to share more about soon!

photo by David Teran… so check him out!

In rememberance of two-oh-one-oh

2010 was:

1. new
2. lonely
3. colorful
4. scary
5. enlightening
6. photographic
7. humbling
8. humorous
9. exhausting
10. inspiring

and full of:

1. hipstamatics
2. mistakes and triumphs
3. endings and beginnings
4. love
5. learning
6. facebook
7. las palapas
8. tears
9. kim and jen
10. exclamation marks

This awesome app from Pummelvision.com takes all of your facebook photos and creates a video to emulate your life flashing before your eyes. I think it’s perfect for remembering how life has been the last few years.

My favorite photo of 2010 that I took:

The lovely Katherine Pierce. I will share Kate’s story soon with more photos from this shoot. My favorite one so far.

I am currently thinking about what I want my 2011 resolutions to be. I have a feeling some big changes are coming… as always, but it’s what I do… constantly reassess and reevaluate. It keeps things interesting.

-Kimberly