An Adventure

"I'm going on an adventure!" 

Yes, yes......that is exactly what I'm doing. And, quite honestly, what I've been doing for the past week. One long grand, glorious (exhausting) adventure that will continue rolling for the next couple weeks.

It all began last Thursday with the set-up for the 2014 AFHE Homeschool Conference. For the first time, I had a booth there to advertise my photography, and man was it awesome!! Tons of interest, lots of business cards given out, and so much encouragement.......combine that with other amazing friends, giggles, chocolate, and marshmallow gun wars - it was something else! Here's a couple quick pictures from that.

My little helpers (aka comic relief, eaters of chocolate, causers of trouble, and more!)

The Great White Hunter...........I'd say I'm in a pretty dangerous position, doncha think?

We had too much time on our hands, made an epic dark-chocolate-kiss star, and got countless compliments on it!! 

So. Much. Fun.

  After a jam packed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I had a nice break on Sunday, then headed out bright and early Monday morning to photograph a wedding. Yup, a wedding! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! My first one!! I was second shooting for Jocelyn Klotz of www.JoscePhotography.com and I honestly couldn't have enjoyed it more. The night before, I was so nervous that I felt sick, but it ended up going so smoothly and I came away with some of my favorite shots to date. You're going to have to wait to see them till Mrs. Klotz posts hers, though....then I'll put up mine :) 
Shooting a wedding was even more exhausting than I'd imagined.....mentally and physically draining. But it was also so much better and so much more rewarding than I'd expected. My absolute favorite time was when Mrs. Klotz and I got about an hour alone with the bride and groom just wandering around their property and documenting their love. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever been a part of. Seeing their love for each other, their focus on Christ, and the joy they were so full of was amazing all by itself........but getting to photograph it? What an indescribable privilege!
I could do a whole bunch more weddings like that! 

Soooooooo.............I've now had yesterday and today off, but during those two days, I've been packing like crazy! Why? Because of the next leg of my adventure!

I leave for Reno tomorrow morning at o'dark thirty!!

This weekend in Reno is the Western Regional Championship show! Mom and Jessie left this morning with 5 horses and some other friends and they're driving up all day today. 

They'll get in late tonight, I'll get in early tomorrow morning, and Dad and Anna are staying behind to hold down the place here. I'll actually be working for some friends during the show, and then on Monday, Mom and Jess will go home, and I'll drive back with said friends to their farm in Salem to spend a week enjoying the cool weather and beautiful horses!! I. Can't. Wait. 

All that said, it's been and is going to be a whirlwind of a month. Prayers are greatly appreciated for safety for all of us traveling and those of us staying. God is so good!! 

I will be back in a couple weeks with hopefully tons and tons of pictures and stories!! Thank you so much to everyone making all this possible! 

xoxo

Lisa

Still here!

I know, I know.....I've slacked off terribly with my rampage of quote posts lately. There's a reason - honest! Kind of a silly reason, but a very real one nonetheless.

Truth is, I've been doing some deep thinking, praying, and soul searching recently, and as such, have been in a generally somber mood. The next few quotes in my folder are all silly and slightly sarcastic ones, and I'm having a hard time posting them when, quite honestly, I don't feel like being silly or sarcastic.
Silly? Yup.
But true.
And insane, OCD me can't bear to just skip them and go out of order..........that would be the most sensible thing to do. But no, instead, I sit here and bewail the fact that I have to get past the silly ones before I post the ones I want to.

So tonight, I'm just doing it. Posting all the silly ones in one fell swoop.

Enjoy.

And smile :) :) :)

Whew! That feels better!
**Warning**
Lots of serious blog posts in the near future..............

:) :) :) :) :) 

Marriage, Photography, and more..........

Happy Friday Eve!! Ha! I've not been doing so good about keeping up on posting my quotes lately. Hopefully I'll fix that over the next week or so! For now, here's a bunch of random ones........since they're arranged in my folder in alphabetical order, sometimes a bunch of similar ones end up together.

The theme of the evening? Marriage & photography.....plus more. Told you it was random ;)

This is so ME!!!! I love driving long distances by myself, windows rolled down, music blaring!

So, so true.

This is one of those personal hard-to-share ones.

Couldn't be said more perfectly.........your photographs reflect your worldview.

Encouraging!! Or intimidating??

Ugh, I hear this ALL. THE. TIME. Never responded quite like this, though.......

Beautiful.

Maybe not always true, but funny nonetheless :D

Comparing marriage to music.............does it get any more lovely than that?

Girls - remember this.
Lisa - remember this.

 Goodnight, friends!! xoxo

Quote Dump!!

Because I felt like it..........here's a BUNCH of quotes!! Have fun :) :) :)

Leave a comment and let me know which one's your favorite! I know mine ;)

A Beautiful Thing

So it's probably really, really obvious why I saved this quote once upon a time. Every time I pick up my camera, I feel so incredibly grateful that I get to do what I love and make some money doing so. God has truly blessed me!! My hope and prayer with my photography business is that every image I shoot will declare His glory and point others to Him.

P.S. Looking ahead through my quotes folder, I didn't realize that some of these were going to be hard to share. It feels like I'm about to show some parts of me that I'd rather stay hidden......it'll be good for me, I guess!

Smiles

Gotta love it when I'm sitting on the rail shooting, and this guy looks up into the stands, sees the camera.....and smiles :) :)

Quick Glance Back At 2013

For those of you interested, my top favorite shots from 2013 are up on my photoblog today!!

http://atruefocus.blogspot.com/2014/01/favorites-of-2013.html

Do Right..........

First of all, it was a beautiful, beautiful day. There were clouds off and on, rain off and on, and vibrant  colors everywhere. Loved it...and so did my camera :)

Secondly......this quote so speaks to me. So often, I get too wrapped up in the technical and practical side of things instead of looking at what is right and doing it. No matter what comes.

So I combined the day and the quote and got this.

P.S. Close friends are such a blessing! You know if you're one of those, and I just gotta say - I love you guys and don't know what I'd do without you..... ♥

Workshop Pictures!

I am so thrilled with the shots I got this past weekend. The workshop was absolutely amazing....it was taught by Trevor Dayley - an absolute genius and a very special person. I walked away from it so challenged and inspired, and can't wait to start applying everything I learned!!

For now, here is a peek at some of my favorite shots. To see all of them, visit http://atruefocus.blogspot.com/2013/12/pete-victoria-scottsdale-waterfront.html

Awesome editing song :) :)

Editing pictures and listening to Waylon Jennings' "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys". ♥ ♥

Workshop fun :) :) :)

See the bright pink sleeve on the left side? 

And see the brown sweatshirt in the bottom right corner?

Those are me!! Learning from the incredibly talented Trevor Dayley Photography.....and getting to take shots like the one below :) :) :)

What an amazing weekend. I am so incredibly blessed! :)

Would Ya Mind?

I have this picture in a photo competition.....if you feel like voting for it, I'd love if you'd visit:
http://hisfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2013/12/and-winner-is.html 

:) :) :)

Exciting!!!!!!

Back in September, when I went to Ft. Worth to help the Rowlands at the World show, I definitely didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked. But when their 2 year old stallion took the show by storm and won everything out there, there was no way I wasn't going to take a few minutes and snap some pictures. 

This picture is my favorite from the whole show, so when their graphic designer asked to use it, I was thrilled!! She designed a stunning layout that is a full page ad in this next issue of the Miniature Horse World magazine. 

I am so excited to get to see this in print, and am so humbled that they chose to use it!! 

Thankful..........

One of the biggest blessings in my life? These people right here. My best friends.

These crazy, silly, outrageous, amazing, supportive people.

We've grown up together, made memories together.... There's been plenty of times we've all made each other crazy, but we couldn't love each other more. God has seriously blessed me!! This picture is the best thing that happened today...we've never had a single good picture of us all together. 

And this one just for kicks ;)

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works with rejoicing."
Ps. 107:21-22