Merry Christmas! So much to be thankful for!

 I love Jesus. Its hard to seperate him from other aspects of my life, and I don't think he would want me to. I try everyday, and I fail everyday (somedays way more than others). But he is there, always. I feel like an inadequate loser a lot of the time, but he doesn't think I am. It is hard to remind yourself of that when you look around, taking your eyes off of him, and just looking at what this world has to offer. Years ago, I wanted to try my hand at photography. I just thought I would go ahead and say, God, if this is what you want me to do, let this roll of film come out awesome. TADA! Na-da! Guess what? God apparently said no, I thought. Taking the obvious aside, you know, the very hard work of understanding and practing your craft (a pertinent note here, I had a film camera that was a "good camera", and I am sure that it was, I just never learned how to use it)...He didn't say no, he said just not right now. Fast forward approximately 6 years later ... a tragedy, in my opinion. We lost our daughter. What in the world was I going to do to help myself cope? Most of you know, when she was born, we were recipients of NILMDTS. Both it and she were a spark, a catalyst that God used to push me in this direction. God wasn't saying no, just not right now. How many times does this happen a day. He answers all prayers, but he isn't a genie. He answered my prayer of healing our baby. He healed her better than I could have asked for. She is perfect, with him. It was the start of an amazing journey. I am so thankful for it.

 For almost 2 years now, I have been working my tail off to get to where I want to be in photography. And let me say, it has been a very long 2 years. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but I am making strides. Enough to say that I actually enjoy looking at my work now, I am not frustrated by my work, I can finally take pride in it. Knowing that working hard is paying off is one thing. Knowing that God has his hand in it is another. I firmly believe that it is a gift that he has given me to help me heal and be a blessing to others. There is no other explanation to my being able to learn completely on my own, so much in such a short amount of time. Are there days that I have doubt and feel stuck? Of course! Who doesn't? I don't know where I will end up with this, but one thing is for sure. I have been a blessed woman for it, and have had wonderful people put in my life because of it. I pray that I have been a blessing to those I have come in contact with. 

 My number one job is to be here for my kids and husband. I am humbled and grateful for the ability to be able to enjoy my family and have such a killer job!

 May your Christmas be wonderful. May it be a time of reflection, hope, dreams and love. Merry Christmas to your family from mine. Can't wait to kick off a new year! Lots to come!

Much love!
~Brooke~

It's been awhile!

     Boy, am I behind on the blog, or what? It's been awhile! I have been very busy, and it has been great! Busy...with my kids and people that I like...priceless. The girls just finished with the CharACTers production of Beauty and the Beast. It. Was. Phenomenal. What a spectacular cast, great memories, and such a compassionate, helpful and genuine group of people. We are so blessed as a family to have access to this "family". All of those involved would say the same thing. Lots of fun and lots of heart. Now that this show has finished up, my brood is gearing up to head to Gatlinburg with The Dreamcatchers to do two shows there. We are awaiting Christmas, Christmas vacation and Christmas movies. So even though technically I am on "break" from business as usual...I am still plenty busy. The only difference is, my (not so) little chicks are with me.

   We contemplated selling our van for awhile. Such a nice vehicle, but for those of you that know me well...it just wasn't my bag. We sold our Prius (read here - GAS SAVER) when I found out we were expecting Vivian. I loved that car...which is saying something because I am not material driven. We bought the van since our five family unit would become a six family unit. When we didn't get to bring Vivi home from the hospital, frankly, every time I got in that van was a reminder that we got it for her arrival...and that it was in vain. Out with the old, in with the new! Two years of that dark cloud is finally over, and I have a FUN car! Yippee! I am a fun lady, and this car suits me (ok, it was my mans idea - he gets props HERE). Thank you baby :) My funky little wagen - no spelling error there - is a fuel saver as well. Not even broke in yet, and already 41mpg baby! Now THAT is what I am talking about. Money in my pocket is what I like...not money in the tank. My little pet ought to get 50+ mpg by the time it gets through its break in period. Swooning, oh yeah, swooning big time. Plus I just used the word swoon twice - because it's so nice - AND I don't think it is used enough.

    I am making plans, making changes, owning decisions, and baking cookies (true story). The cookies help with all the other things - which of course, are in regards to my photography. Have I mentioned lately how much I love photography? Jim and I were just discussing the other day, about portraits hanging in his aunts house...OLD portraits. One was of a very small child. I told him, pointing the print of our three girls on our wall "Our grandkids and great grandkids will be able to look at this canvas and say something about their moms and aunts/grandmas and great aunts when they were little girls. How cool is that?" And that is truly why I love it so much. Without photographs, how can we get a good feel of where we came from? How can we put faces with stories? Super cool. (I totally use the phrase "super cool" all the time, just ask anyone lol)

     More updates coming soon. I have a Freedom session coming up that I very excited about. I get to branch out a bit from what I normally do. Grow grow grow, and get out of the box!

I Heart Faces challenge - Furry Faces!

This is Edgar...Eddie Spaghetti...The Bearded Yodler...Edgar Schmedley. He is a dog of many names, and he is quite photogenic with his banded markings around his eyes. He is a food mooch like no other. He has selective hearing, being completely deaf one minute and can hear a spoon quietly clank against a dish from clear across the house. And he adores my husband. He is Jim's dog. He loves quiet walks along the river, the occasional bit of summer sausage or salami. Actually that sentence pertains to both of them, as these are activities they enjoy together :) This photo was shot with my Lensbaby. Where is he laying? On Jim's side of the bed of course.

My entry for this weeks photo challenge on I Heart Faces.