pursuit of happyness

I had the enormous pleasure of hearing Chris Gardner speak on Saturday. He is an amazing man with a truly compelling life story.



If you have seen The Pursuit of Happyness movie with Will Smith you are familiar with his story. Basically, he is a man of great courage who was able to overcome nearly insurmountable odds in order to keep his family together and provide a more stable life for his son.


The main theme of the message he delivered to us was the importance of your child knowing that you will always be there for them, physically and emotionally. The most impressive difference between his real life and the movie was the fact that producers chose to portray his son at the age of five (for dialogue purposes), when really he was only 14 months old during that period in their lives. Can you imagine sleeping with a toddler in a train station bathroom or in a shelter every day for a year? I can't.

It was an absolutely riveting speech and I highly encourage you to attend one of his events if you ever get the chance. He held a book signing after the event so I actually got to shake his hand and get a signed copy of his book! Of course, my camera was at home....

my life is a fairytale

You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

personal vaycay, part 2

What a day! Fabulous food, fabulous company and good times! We had a day full of learning and a night full of relaxing. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) all is well on the homefront. Apparently, life goes on without me. Really, I'm glad the girls are having a great time. In addition to all the "work" tommorrow we have a fab trip to Sam Moon and the mall and an early morning workout. Whee!!!

leaving on a jet plane

I spent the day washing, drying, and folding every piece of laundry we have. Now I have to pack a bag for Paige, one for Brooke, and one for me, plus make sure J has everything he needs for the weekend including food. Ugh! I'm heading to Dallas for the state school board convention, P & B are heading to my parents (it will be the first time for B. eek!) and J is staying here for the opening of deer season. Three different directions, three times the work. All this work will be worth it as I get to wear grown up clothes, go to grown up meetings, eat in grown up restaurants and enjoy my very own hotel room for 3 whole nights. Ahhh....peace.

senior session | rbp

I had the opportunity to take some senior portraits this weekend. You can take a peek at them over at the Red Berry blog. I'm going to add a few more later, too.

the ants go marching

Paige had a parent picnic today at school. It's billed as a time for students and their families to enjoy lunch at school and hang out. Really it's just a way to rope us into spending a small fortune at the book fair.

Here are the girls after lunch.


Brooke has what is affectionately known in the photography world as a poop face.

it's fall ya'll

at least it feels like it. We dipped into the 80s this week. WooHoo!!

I decided to start bringing out the autumnal decorations before we go back up into the 100s.

I've been collecting the supplies from Hobby Lobby to make a new wreath. If you're patient, eventually everything ends up 50% off.

Yesterday during nap time, I started with this.


Normal people would stop at this point.


But gaudy is GOOD!


I also updated my Nester-inspired candle arrangement with some cute punkins.


Happy Fall Ya'll!!

i scream

One of the moms in Paige's class invited the kindergarten girls out for ice cream at our local soda fountain last week.

She is brave.

Paigie digging into the sprinkles.




Miss Em.


L&L with Brooke


Miss S


The whole gang


Thanks for the fun afternoon Miss Tessa!!!

this is what happily ever after looks like

Just when you start to take yourself too seriously... Seriously, so blessed! comes along to knock you off your pedestal. This is some pretty funny stuff.

Need the 411 on your fave political dudes/dudette? TAMN sums it up for you.

Think you have the best hubby? Can he compare to JJWT?

She even has her own clothing line!! We could totally be BFF!!!

red berry photography

As many of you know I have taken up photography in last year. I really wanted something more personal and reflective of my girls' personalities than the typical department store portraits. So, I invested in a quality camera and lenses, read lots of books, took a class, and found some very talented mentors to help me develop the technical and creative knowledge I needed. I am still learning and continuing to develop my skills, but have had several people ask me to photograph their children and families. I want to give them what I would want from a photographer so I have created Red Berry Photography which will allow me the opportunity to create and provide a professional experience to those that want more creative and personal photographs.

Please check out the website and let me know what you think. I am so excited to embark on this adventure and hope that you will join me when you have a chance. And if not, that's okay, too...but please pass this along to someone that you think might like it.

In the next few weeks I will have a Christmas card session special to help you get ready for the holidays. I'll post details on the Red Berry blog when they're available.

girls' night out

I got a chance to go out tonight and celebrate two of my very good friends' birthdays. They wanted to try out their AARP cards so we left the kids with the husbands and spent the evening chatting, getting pedicures, chatting, eating Mexican food at chatting. Fun stuff!!!! It was nice to get a break and have some girl time!

Toe show!


One of the birthday girls. Cute hat, huh? It came with a Happy Birthday song sung by the waiters.