Photographing:March

About a month or so ago, I realized I needed a challenge. A photographic one, of course. Rather than bog myself down with the commitment of a "Project 365," I decided to go with a month long version. I was inspired by my friend Paige's post on this, as well as Jamie Delaine's. I didn't realize that this past month was going to be such a crazy month for me when I started, but I'm glad I stuck it through and finished my challenge. So here is March, through my "real" camera, my iphone, and a few friends' cameras for those days when I forgot mine.

1: Celebrating Melanie's birthday with our good friends Beth, Ryan, Melissa and Melanie's hubs, Hunter.

2: My 'bookshelf' with my current reads.

3: The quarterly date at La Madeleine with my former roomie/previous bride/awesome gal Abby.

4&6: Fort Worth, headed to SWPJC, and groceries. I love grocery shopping.

7: If I could be another species, a bird I would be. Flying looks wonderful.

8: Beautiful, tranquil Spring has arrived in my front yard.

9: Gas pumps are getting more of my money these days and I'd rather them not.

10: A very unique shoot at the tennis courts.

11: Friends from all around, gathering in a coffee shop. Such is typical American life.

12: My car was dirty, so a large machine gave it a bath.

13&18: The most creative way to tell a friend you're pregnant: get them on skype, let them babble a bit about nothing and then text them mid-skyping telling them you're preggo. I freaked out! Also, Hailey loves numbers like I do...and this baby is due on the coolest date of the year. Can't wait to meet that child. Oh, and my colorful calendar!

14: The first day of Spring Break with Mel...working since we're adults now.

15: Cereal for dinner is always a winner!

16: Meeting up with some East Texas gals for some LARGE slices of pizza!

17: Sometimes I drink English tea with a fine English woman and learn how good life really is.

19&20: Bonnie traveled with me to Houston for a shoot and we found a cozy little sushi joint. Then the long trek home meant a stop at the massive world of Buc-ee's. We spent way too much time in there...but it's like it's own village! SO cool!

21: The walls of a FroYo place. The tastiest new idea of the decade!

22&23:Funny words from Neil and some hearty almond bread. :-)

24: Nine years ago that cute little face was only six months old and I rocked her to sleep two times a week. She's pretty darn clever for her age!

25: Good morning from North Texas!

26: It's like Jessica Mooney, in the form of cereals.

27: My Papaw's living room wall. He's quite a distinguished man.

28: Never has a floor been a part of my life longer than this one. I love that house.

29: Headed East, towards home.

30: I tried to learn how to quickly and efficiently dice a tomato this month. Those squishy things make this almost impossible.

31: Ahh...a beautiful ending to this challenge!

And THAT is March through my many lenses.

Life lately...and a promise!

Bullet points are going to be our friends today. Get cozy with 'em.

-The sun is setting later. That means the shooting side of my job is back in session.  Seniors and couples and families and children and easter bunnies....say hello to the camera.

-Taxes=Donezo. This makes me sigh out a lot of relief and reminds me of how much I love my tax lady. She even bought me a cookie today. Life is sweet...and so are Panera's shortbreads.

-I've been published! Yippee! I'll blog about it at some point and the kind people who helped make it happen.

-I'm moving soon! You can now call me House Hunting Helen. Me+three other friends are searching (and searching, and searching) for the best house that works. We're not picky so much...it's just that everyone else in the world is. I've decided I trust the housing market about as much as I trust all species of canines. That's not much, peeps. Aka...it's been a long process, and we're still...searching. My realtor's website is bookmarked and I feel like I view it more than my blog. Oh wait, that's obvs. :) (So sorry for my absence lately.)

-On a sadder note, my grandfather isn't doing so well. "Papaw" is a really cute old man who loves all things airplane related, tells the same silly jokes to each new person he meets and I can't remember a time when he didn't sport his Western bow-tie at Thanksgiving. My family has been spending lots more time than normal talking and seeing each other, which is a great plus, but also quite heavy as we know his health is fading.

-On a happier note...here's a promise! I challenged myself for the month of March to take a photo a day. It. Was. Hard! Maybe it's because my month was so crazy, or maybe because the creative challenge threw me off. Regardless, I'm posting March's photos Monday! We'll see if April will include a similar goal.

Here's a shot from visiting my Papaw earlier this week. I love his airplane photo collection bordering the dining room behind him, his classic style telephone on the table and the large dictionary at an arm's length away. He's a smart one and was down-right determined to open that box he's holding.

Sommer & Josh, the wedding

Well after all that Asia talk, howzabout a wedding post? You betcha!

Let's start with Sommer and Josh. They go waaaaay back to the days of high school and their church's youth group, but they didn't start dating until they were in college. I knew Sommer in college at DBU and I actually met Josh in Florida as he was an usher at a wedding I shot last year! Small world? I think so! I was thrilled to capture their story!

Asia, Part 5 of 5: My view

Going to Asia this year was just plain weird. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the dumplings, confusing language and the tiny & kind people there...but this time, my heart hurt. My dad had passed away just two weeks before I hopped wearily trudged onto the plane. While I really was looking forward to seeing old and new friends there, it just wasn't easy flying away from the chaos that just occurred.

What I didn't expect though, was finding such a haven in this place. It took awhile...there were some really intense moments of pain and some long hard conversations with Jesus at the local Starbucks. Goodness, He was so kind to still meet me there. But later...there was a lot of joy found in a people that had no clue about my life...and I liked it that way for a few weeks. I was able to have conversations about God's grace and redemption in a whole new light. Asia played a huge part in the process of my heart changing. It's almost like it's my land of healing. I remember even crying on the way home, scared to come back to 'normal.' I tried to capture a few moments throughout the trip that would always remind me of it's uniqueness. So...that's what this is...my view, shaded and grey at times, and full of hope at others.

My first morning in country...a little timid to adventure outside of solitude.

The first friend I made. Her name was Grace, and that she was to me.

Many, many, many hours were spent in this chair and others like it, facing the Word, my journal and the space I knew only the Holy Spirit was filling.

The girls and I spent a few nights in the hospital making friends and reviewing English with local doctors.

This is our friend Young. We sat with her in the back of a Dairy Queen (yep...a Dairy Queen!) for hours sharing the entire story of the Bible. Her curiosity led to some great questions. She's a huge part of the reason I was supposed to be there then.

We also decided to have photography lessons one day!

Another sweet friend that we shared Truth with.

While I was looking awwwwesome (it was so dang hot that day), I decided I needed to start taking photos in all of the cool places He lets me travel to. Aaaannd cue the squintiness in The Forbidden City.

On the Great Wall with my 'little sister' and friend, Holli. I've probably spent more time with her in the Eastern Hemisphere than the Western one.

I hope I thoroughly explained how hot it was in Beijing, but if that didn't do it....try imagining being in a sauna, inside of fourteen parkas, with a heater rotating in front of your face. Our driver, who we named "Big Papa," had an amazing air conditioner. It was my bff that day.

And finally, looking out onto the Great Wall. I am beyond blessed that I get to travel so often...even when my heart doesn't feel like it. I trust that He knows my needs better than I do.

Asia, Part 4 of 5: Being a tourist

On our way out of Asia, we stopped in Beijing to see some of the wonders of the world. It just happened to be the hottest and most humid day of the year. We also learned that the entire city and surrounding areas (about 100 miles wide) were covered in a thicker smog than normal because of a nearby science experiment. Well, that's what we got out of the translation at least. Regardless, it made for some really weird looking skies and weather!

The girls and I were so tired we could have slept the entire day, but we wanted to get the most of our day in this massive city. We stopped by the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden city and a part of the Great Wall. There are several parts of the wall to explore, and we happened to go to the same part I'd been to 4 years ago in the frigid winter months. That was one of the coldest days of my life! I've now decided that the next time I travel to this place...I'm going in the Spring or Summer!

If you have children and you decide it's worth it for them to climb almost 1,000 steps up the Great Wall....then you've also decided that you're going to be carrying them down. No thanks!

I also decided to shoot a wedding while there! :-)

J/K...but umm...what an amazing place for wedding photos. THE Great Wall!