Bluebonnets are horrible, rotten, no good, torturous things. For real, y’all. It was traumatizing….

M pushing his sister over and seeing nothing but her little feet popped up, hilarious. Once we moved them out of the torturous blue beasts they were just fine. Wellllll, almost….

It took a minute to recover from the horrible blue torture devices. Hahaha….I’m so mean for thinking that’s funny. But sweet babies, is laughing at you is wrong, I don’t want to be right. See, they really were fine…

On a more serious note, as many of you know, I do some charity work, photographing families with sick children, or offering up my services for several charities and programs I believe in. Something I haven’t shared much though is something I’ve done since the beginning of my career and the opening of my business 9 years ago. When life feels overwhelming, when I’m feeling down or just absorbed with my own world and problems, I try to find a way to bless someone else. Sometimes it’s in the form of photography, because it’s an easy way for me to bless someone and a good way to give of myself. There is something grounding for me about making people smile by showing them how beautiful they are, to give them the gift of images. Not because I’m being paid, not because they booked a session, but because I have the ability to make them smile. Focusing outward helps me forget about my problems for a little while. Some of the sessions are sprinkled in with my work over the last 9 years, tucked in to this blog, lovingly, without mention. I’m not posting this to brag or for a pat on the back. I’m posting it to share what I do and how it works for me, in hopes you’ll be encouraged by it. The next time you are feeling down, think about shaking it off by doing something nice and blessing someone else, using your talent or gift, no matter what it might be. It works for me every single time. It’s hard sometimes, when you feel overwhelmed and the kids/husband/dogs are making you crazy or life is just weighing down, but I can tell you, every time I give of myself, I get SO much more out of it in return. It’s truly a gift to myself. I want to be that example for my children. I want them to see their mom getting out of her own head and going out to DO something. If you are busy blessing others, you don’t have time to worry about things that don’t really matter all that much anyway. This sweet momma and her babies being photographed was the result of me having a down day a few months back. She’s in a moms group that I’m in and I knew she was having a tough year, one that I can really relate to. I messaged her about a session and she was instantly so excited to have her sweet babies photographed! I am sure there are a lot of professional photographers out there who would cringe at giving away free work. That’s ok, I get it, we all have bills to pay and want people to see value in our work and the photography industry as a whole. But the flip side is that I had the ability to make someone smile, to brighten her day, and as a result, it brightened mine too. If you have a gift, share it. If you can bless someone, do it. I’ve yet to regret it.