It's Good to be Alive

Have any of you ever had a day where your heart just wants to burst because you feel so blessed?  A day when every breeze, blue sky, and white puffy cloud speaks to your heart of Jesus' love for you?  Well, I've had a lot of those days recently.  I don't know if it's just because the weather has been so beautiful lately, or what.  All I know is that my heart overflows with love for my Lord and peace covers me like a warm blanket on a cold, winter day.  Part of the reason for this, I think, is that I'm happy with where I am in life right now.  Sure, I'm not doing as many photography sessions as "I" would like, I have stuff I wonder about constantly, etc. but I'm confident and happy where I am right now.  Every day is a gift to me from the Lord.  I'm constantly amazed how God, who controls the very breath I take, has blessed me so much.

As some of you know, my aunt died of cancer about a month ago.  Her death has really brought life into a bigger picture for me.  I've been trying to spend more time focusing on people and not stuff.  People are what matters (next to Jesus, of course!) and so often I get lost in "I need to do this" or "I need to do that" that I fail to stop and look around.  To look at all the people who have blessed my life, to stop doing what I want and to serve others, all the while attempting to bring glory to Christ.  

Every day really is a gift.  My aunt's death taught me that.

Whenever anyone in the family leaves the home, I always have that thought "I may never see them again."  Not that I'm a worry wart about it, but it just reminds me to spend as much time with them as I can.  No one knows when Jesus will call them up to Him and the last thing that I want to happen, is for me to wish I had spent more time with them.  So, I've started coloring with my little sister, playing card games with my little brother, and, overall, just attempted to get my eyes off of me and what I have to do, and onto others and what would bless them.  

Ever since I've started to see people's needs before I see myself, everything has just seemed more beautiful.  I walk around as if I'm floating because life is just that beautiful.  Living is beautiful.  Breathing is beautiful.  Because every breath, every life points to Jesus.

My favorite song right now is called Good to be Alive by Jason Gray.  It perfectly sums up all I said in this post, so please watch and enjoy!

So, I Have a Car...

 As of today, I have owned a car for 3 weeks!  I paid half of the selling price and Daddy covered the other.  I'm paying for the insurance and gas for it, so the car title is officially in my name! :)  It's kind of exciting having my own car now.  I've never owned one before (shock!), so figuring out insurance, gas $, and keeping it clean has been new for me.  One thing I have learned is that cars aren't cheap...especially once you add the gas and insurance!!  But, they're very nice to have!  I don't have to ask to take a vehicle anymore and if I back into something, it's my car so I have to deal with it (consequently, I'm a bit of a worry-wart backing up now!).   Oh, the other thing I dislike about getting a car is getting the license plates and tags.  Good gracious, you're telling me four sticky pieces of paper with the number "12" and letters "OCT" costs $50??!!! 

My car is a 1995 Dodge Intrepid.  Yes, it's extremely old (born the year I was!) but it's in great shape.  It has around 226,000 miles on it, so hopefully it'll be good for a few more years until I can save up to get something else.  We bought the car from a couple Daddy did some work for.  They were selling it because they wanted a vehicle with better gas mileage (30-40 mph instead of 25-30 mph), and not because anything was wrong with it.  We had the car checked out and the car mechanic said everything looks good!

The only thing disappointing about the car is the lack of an operable radio system. :-(  I'm riding in a completely quiet car now, but supposedly DMV says it's better for young drivers to have no distractions (i.e. the radio), so I'm not complaining too much.  (I am putting a radio on the Christmas wish list, though! ;)

So, meet my car!

 I took pictures of it this past Saturday after my Uncle Kevin detailed it for me.  When I saw my car after he was done, I had a hard time believing that shiny thing was mine! :)

Lydia (my little sister standing next to my car in the photo on the right) was riding with me, so she had to be in a picture!

I refilled my car for the first time today.  I got a little over 300 miles from a full tank of gas.  Not too bad!

There you have my vehicle!

The most embarrassing thing I've done with my car so far, has been forgetting to turn off the lights.  And you know what happens when the lights are on for 3 hours....yep, I killed the battery.  Great.  Thankfully I was at a friend's house and they were very kind, got one of their vehicles and jumped it for me.  I haven't done it again, so I think I've learned my lesson!

Okay, off I must go!

Have a wonderful day/night...wherever this post finds you!

Kimber :)

My Wonderful Graduation

I had the wonderful experience of graduating from High School with my sister, Hannah, this past Saturday.  To put it quite simply, it was a wonderful day!

I really thought I was going to end up being nervous but I wasn't!  I really enjoyed every minute...of course some of those minutes were a bit more awkward or intimidating than others, but all in all I loved my graduation day!  

My major graduation highlights were:

1.  Getting to meet some of the other home school graduates.  Some of them were, quite honestly, awkward but others were funny and kind.  The camaraderie that was formed in just a few minutes of getting to know each other was something I will always remember (after all, when you're with the same row of people for 5 hours you have to get along :).  My sister and I graduated at the ceremony H.E.A.V. holds for home schoolers.  There were 198 of us graduating this year and 193 of those 198 I had never met before.  I couldn't help but think, "If every home school graduate in this room was sold out to Christ, so much could get done for the Kingdom!!" 

2.  Getting to graduate in H.E.A.V.'s graduation ceremony.  A private ceremony could've been nice but I really loved getting to graduate with 196 other home school graduates.  It helped me feel like I wasn't the only home school graduate, that there were others like me.  Plus, I loved getting to look "official" and wear the clothing called a gown that really resembles a white trash bag. :)  I loved wearing the cap too with the gold tassel.  It just felt like my graduation was real...and I was proud (not in the perverse way) to make it through high school. :)  Sure I looked awful funny in my cap and gown but it felt like the real thing, you know what I mean?

Me (2nd from left) and my sister, Hannah (behind me).

4.  I got to wear my dress!  This wasn't just any dress...this was the dress that Hannah and I searched week after week for.  We finally found the right one that was in our price range, and then Grandma kindly bought it for us!  I ordered a sky blue dress and Hannah a white one.  When they first arrived in the mail they were stuffed into this tiny little box and I only thought one dress would fit into a box that big!  But, to my surprise, both of our dresses were there!  And, of course, you must know we put them on as fast as we could.  :)   They fit wonderfully with the exception that they were a little too long.  (Grandma had them hemmed for us too! :)

I love so many things about my graduation dress.  The color, for one, is one of my favorite colors (pastel blue) and it's flattering.   I also love the layers of chiffon and the gathered waist with the accent.  All in all it's my favorite dress.  Ever.

My sister and I decided to not let anyone (other than close family and one other friend) see our dresses until we graduated.   We were originally going to get another photographer to do our Senior pictures but we chose Daddy in the end!  So, believe it or not,  my multi-talented father took our senior pictures!  And he did an awesome job!  I have always wanted to go see the cherry blossom festival in D.C.  What could be better than us in our dresses in front of hundreds of pink, flowering trees?!  Perfect photographic opportunity!!  I just couldn't pass it up!  So Daddy, Hannah, Alexis (another sister), and I went up to my grandparents house one weekend.  We were originally planning on going into D.C. but decided just to take pictures around my grandparents location (lots less traffic).  One of the reasons we stayed "local" was because the weather forecast was calling for lots of rain.  Nevertheless, we drove 1 1/2 hours to get to some pretty cherry blossoms so we weren't about to give up at some rain!!  Plus, I remember Katelyn James saying that a rainy day actually has beautiful light...and it's SO true!  The light was beautiful!!

Anyways, here are some of the pictures! :)

 Loved graduating with my sister!!

See all those cherry blossom petals on the ground?  It was lightly raining during all of these pictures, so some of the petals were falling off.  Thankfully, there were plenty of blossoms left on the tree! :)

I got to take a few pictures of Hannah while Daddy went to go scout out some more photo locations.  :)  I've got one gorgeous sister, don't I?

 My other sister, Alexis, was our pose professional.  She posed Hannah and I (for most of the pictures) and was in charge of making sure everything looked right.  She also took a few pictures of me.

 Love all these cherry blossoms!!

 I found this brick wall and was so glad we stopped here for pictures! :)

Something's a tad twiggy in my face...

 This tree that we were taking pictures under was actually in a big median strip at the entrance to a neighborhood!! 

 Towards the end of our pictures, it really started raining, so we brought out the umbrellas and kept taking pictures! :)

Okay, so I'm sorry about that long bunny trail...back to what I was talking about!

4.  I loved being exhorted by one of my favorite speakers (Rick Boyer) during the ceremony.  I've always loved listening to Mr. Boyer's seminars at the yearly convention, so I was excited to find out that he was speaking at our graduation!   This post is already getting long enough so hopefully I'll post about his exhortation to us next week.

5.  Getting to visit with friends and family at our graduation party that night.  I'm so blessed to have a loving family and many kind friends!

6.  Publicly thanking Mama and Daddy for all the work they put into us. :)  Hannah and I wanted to thank Mama and Daddy publicly once we graduated.  They did so much for us as we went through school!  We also wanted to thank them to show those friends and family celebrating with us, that they weren't forcing us to do or be someone or something....they home schooled us because they had our best interests at heart!  I could never thank them enough!!

7.  Learning that, as my parent's graduation gift to Hannah and I, we get to go to Colombia to meet our sponsored children!  When I read the note telling us that we were going to see our sponsored child, I started crying!  The sponsored child I write, Luz, said in one of her letters that she really wishes she could see me.  I wrote her back saying I wish I could to and that I'd start praying we could meet one day!  Imagine my delight to find out that I was going to see her after all! :)

So there you have an exhaustive list of what I loved about my graduation!  I'm sure I missed something but I think I got the majority of it!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Kimber :)

Random Info :)

So, I was hoping I could get a nice, long post up this week but time is limited, so a short one will have to do!

After photographing 1 1/2 weddings this year, I didn't think I would be doing anymore...until Becky called.  Becky and her family used to babysit me!!  Anyways, I'm excited to say that I'm the photographer for her wedding on August 11th!  Monday night I have this couple's engagement session and I can't wait to share the pictures with you!

I also *might* be doing another wedding on December 1st!  I had no idea I would be doing more weddings this year, but God has been so good and given me more than I could have asked or even thought for!  I'm so blessed that our friends would entrust me with the pictures on the biggest day of their life!!

Erin showed us a certain video the other night and I wanted to share it with you, so you could be blessed by it as well.  Here it is:

Isn't that beautiful?

Have a great weekend everyone!  And stay cool...it's HOT out there!
Kimber :)

Reflections on Growing Up

I don't really know who reads this blog, so I'm not sure how many of you know that I'm graduating this year.  

I'm only 16 (I'll be 16 1/2 when I "officially" graduate) but Mama started schooling me at the same time she started my older sister, Hannah, so I get to finish early. :) 

It's a crazy thing for me...graduating.  I've looked forward to this my entire life and, now that it's so close, I want to pull back and slow down these last weeks of school.  But I also have those days that I get very excited that I'll be done with school soon!  The thought that after we graduate at the 2012 HEAV Homeschool Convention, I won't have to do Science, History, Math, WriteShop, etc. 4-5 days a week is mind-boggling.  I spend a lot of time in school and what in the world am I going to do with that free time?

One thing I know for sure, I'm going to try my hardest not to waste time.  And I'm not going to quit learning.  I never want to be a good-for-nothing teenager that is only a draw on her parents and family...no!  My parents have given me so much and I'm not going to leech off of them when they've done so much for me already.

 I have many ideas as to what to do and I'm excited about what the Lord has for me after high school.

But I'm also nervous about graduating.

All I've known consistently for 16 years of my life has been my family, my Lord, and school.  And, by June, most of my school will be over...forever.  I mean, I might take some more classes just for fun, but the major hunk of schoolwork is over.

When I was younger I thought that people who graduated were no longer a little kid or teenger...now they are mature young adults.  (I know now that graduating, in and of itself, doesn't make you mature but it does help.)   The whole thought of me no longer being a young, carefree person is so weird.  I've always been young (funny how you start out like that ;) and now I'm graduating...and that means I'm not so young anymore.

It's just the realization that I'm no longer a little kid that hits me the hardest.   I'm not 100% totally dependent on Mama and Daddy anymore.  I'm becoming my own person.  

No, I'm not moving out of the house or going to college.  I'm not moving out of the house because I absolutely love my family, couldn't stand living apart from them just to "have my own place", and I want to be a bigger help to them now that I'll be graduated.  I want to help Mama school the younger ones, help Daddy out more, invest in where we live currently (it's gonna' be flower heaven over here!), etc.  And I'm not going to college because, as Daddy says, college is just a place where you pay exorbitant amounts of money to have someone make sure you read your books and pass the tests.  If we had the same books a college had and an insatiable desire to learn, we could learn just as much and more, without the price tag.   (College is such a hot topic with lots of people...they act like you're an alien from a distant cosmos when you say you're not going to college.  Just because someone doesn't want to go to college doesn't automatically make them dumb, stupid, and useless!!  College does have its purposes and we're not totally against them...I'm just not going.  All the things I want to do I can learn how to do very easily right here at home.  Besides, what I want to be most of all, a wife and mother, the professors at college cannot give degrees for.  I've got the perfect college professor for mothering/homemaking right here....her name is Mama!)

Anyways, I guess the other hard-hitting thing for me is the fact that I only have a few years left with my family.  I have no idea when (and if) the Lord will bring my future husband along, but...it could end up being 15, 20, or even 30 years before I could get married but chances are it'll be before then.  And there's no guarantee I'm going to get married but I have a reason why I think I will (but I'm not going to tell you :).  The oddest thought is that I could be married in 2-3 years at the earliest.  Just thinking about that is totally weird to me.  2 or 3 years?  Yikes!!  I'm pretty sure it's not going to be that soon, but it's still weird to think about. :) 

My years as a single lady are, most likely, numbered.  Am I doing everything to utilize these years for God's glory?

Anyways, I just felt like typing up my thoughts...thank you for enduring this post. :)

  I really love where I am right now in life.  I could be a little picky and say some things I'd like changed, but I'm not going to complain.  I'm totally happy with where God has me!  Once I graduate, it'll be so exciting to see what else He has in store for me!
Kimber :)

My Little Brother

I have this little guy that I really, really love.  He's mischevious, way too cute, and has the biggest, and best, smile I've ever seen! :)

Meet my brother:

Yes, I also have 7 other siblings who are the best in the world...but today, this post is about my youngest sibling, Judah. :)

Really...how can that smile not light up your day?

My oldest sister, Hannah, was reading Judah a book last week and he would close the book, then Hannah would tickle him and get these smiles out of him. :)  I was sitting at the computer doing something and I had to pick up my camera and capture his little chubby cheeks!

I'm not sure why little ones seem to grab you so strongly...maybe it's just because they're so tiny...

...or always have a way of getting into things and upsetting you one second and then making you want to whip them up into your arms and give those cheeks a big kiss in the next. :)

 Maybe it's the wonder they hold in their eyes as they discover something new.

Or it could be that they smile so easily?

Maybe it's his blond hair...

...or big, blue eyes.

Whatever the reason...

...this little guy...

...is oh, so precious to me!

Kimber :)

2012 Photography Goals

So, now it's 2012!  I'm really starting to believe that the older I get, the faster time flies.  It's a good and bad thing.  :)  

Seeing as it's January now, I want to write up my photography goals for this year.  I've never done this before, but I'm excited to this year!  I really think having my goals displayed for anyone to see will keep me accountable! :)  

But before my goals are listed here, I wanted to list some praises from the past year, as well as prayers for the  upcoming one!

The praises:

• I've had more photography sessions this year than ever before!!  I'm so grateful to everyone who entrusted me with their pictures...I don't think they realize how much of a blessing it was to capture their families, relationships, etc. 
• I got my own computer!  We found a computer on Craigslist a few months ago and it was just what I was looking for!  I had recently tried a 30-day free trial of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and I absolutely loved it.  Photoshop Elements faded very quickly as a great editing program when compared to the superb editing features of Lightroom.  I was really excited about Lightroom, the only damper being that it was expensive.  I mean, like $400 (that's a lot for me right now!).  I was praying about how to get it for cheaper and then someone in our family found a fairly new computer, with lots of storage space, and, hold your breath, Lightroom and Photoshop Elements on it! :)  It sounded perfect.  (It was obvious someone in the photography circle was trying to get out of the business.)  They were selling the computer, printer, and all the programs for only $400.  The Lord answered my prayers beyond what I could ever have thought possible!  After all, Lightroom itself cost $400 and I was getting a computer, printer, Lightroom and Photoshop Elements for just $400 (and the computer was just over a year old)!  It's amazing how the Lord provides.  At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money for an entire new computer, but Daddy finally helped make my mind up.  We went and picked up the computer and now it sits in a little corner of our business room, and it's perfect. Now I can keep all my pictures in one place, and I don't have to worry about them taking up disk space on our family computer, getting lost, accidentally deleted, etc.  It's great. :)  This is my little "photo corner" now:

Yikes!  I should've cleaned my screen before I took this picture! :)

•  I got my own phone for Christmas!  That may not seem like a "praise" concerning my photography, but it is.  You see, I couldn't get a business card until I had my own phone.  :)  So, now I've got a phone and I can get business cards! :)

Now, I'm sure I missed many praises from this past year, but that's what came off the top of my head!  My main prayer for this year's photography endeavors is as follows:

• To glorify and magnify God even more through my photography.  I could never bring too much glory to God and, I say, the more the better! :)  I want my clients to know how much I love the Lord and that He is the sole reason for anything good that comes out of me.
   

Well, time for my 2012 photography goals!  I've got a quite a list!

• Get a TON better at my photography!  This may seem like an obvious goal but I really, really want to improve.  I want to look back at this year and be shocked at how much better the pictures were than in 2011. 
• Post to this blog at least once a week.  I'm excited about this goal!  I already have ideas of what to write up each week I don't have any pictures to share! :)  It will be a challenge to consistently post to this blog (and my family blog) weekly, but I'm going for it!  I'm going to post personal stuff, photography info that's helped me, recent/random pictures I've taken, etc.  It's going to be great. :)
• Get a website and design my logo, colors, fonts, etc.  This will probably be the hardest goal to complete this year.  First off, I wish I could design my own website but I just don't have the time right now.  So, I'm looking for a designer...but I'm picky.  The designer needs to be a Christian and I want him/her to like what I like because that will make things easier! :)  So, if any of you know of any great, kind, Christian (inexpensive is always nice too :) web/blog designers, please let me know about him/her!
• Get business cards.  I was going to wait until I got my website and "look" down before I got business cards (that way everything would match) but Daddy's encouraging me to get them now...because who knows when I'll actually get the website?  Plus, he wants to be able to pass them out to his customers and such...so, hopefully I'll be getting business cards really soon!  (I'll be sure to show them off on this blog when I do!)
• Get professional C.D. packaging.  This goal goes along with  my website goal...I can't get more professional packaging until I know what colors, fonts, graphics, etc. match me, my photography, and my website.  Right now I'm using these tacky, colored jewel cases to hold my C.D.'s.  I've been adding some scrapbook paper and layers to the front of the C.D. but I still don't like it.  I want to give my clients (sounds so weird to say that...) something so much better!
• Discover new poses and find ways to articulate how to "do the pose" to my customers.  I often find myself brain-dead (concerning new poses) in the middle of photo shoots and I hate it.  I want to have ideas, know what I'm doing, and not stand around looking like I'm lost.  It's terrible, and I'm determined to fix it.  :)  [Watch out, siblings, I'm sensing that I'll be using you as models soon! ;)]
•  Make every photo shoot look different.  This means that I'm going to strive to do at least one new pose for every photo shoot.   I have the same 4-6 poses I use and then, once-again, I go brain-dead and my creativity flies far, far away and my clients sit there, uncomfortable, waiting for their slow photographer to suggest something! :)
• Give my clients a better experience, whether it be during the actual photo shoot, emailing, or giving them their pictures.   (This whole idea comes from one of my favorite photographers, Katelyn James.)  I tend to be on the shy, quiet side when I don't know someone really well and that is a terrible personality to have when you're a photographer!  Most people are already nervous about having their picture taken and when their photographer timidly suggests something it doesn't calm their fears at all (I've observed this myself...).  I need to know what I want, ask for it kindly and with authority (in a fun way), and, as they're figuring out the pose, encourage them!  I don't want my photography shoots to be an uncomfortable experience for anyone at anytime.  I really want them to enjoy themselves during the time I have with them!  I also want to improve my clients experience by being up-front with everything (prices, locations, advice, etc.), so they don't have to wonder how this or that works.  From the time they first email me I want everything to go smoothly and with zero confusion.  I also want to bless my clients more and I plan to do this with my C.D. packaging.  I have some fun ideas but I can't share them with you until I actually do it! :)

All in all, I'm really excited about the upcoming year!  I've got a lot I need to work on but I already know it's going to be a great one!

By the way, it seems so weird to me, to refer to the people I took pictures of this year, as "clients".  I really don't like that term.  My "clients" are now my friends and I'd much rather call them as such.  It's amazing how close you get to people you take pictures for!  For example, a girl at church (whose family I photographed last year), excitedly waves at me whenever she sees me...and then she comes over and gives me a  big hug and asks me how I'm doing.  (She also calls me Miss Kimber...I don't think I'll ever get used to someone calling me "Miss"! :) I don't know if I ever talked to this particular girl before the photo shoot, and now, she treats me like I'm her best friend!  It's great!

Ever since I was young I've never thought that I was a "people person"...you know, the type of person that loves talking to anyone and everyone about anything?  I've actually prayed, many times, that God would give me a greater heart for people and I think, through photography, He's answered that prayer.  I've found that I really enjoy getting to know families and their stories...I love hearing how engaged people met and how the proposal went...I love following around little toddlers and capturing their sweet smiles and personalities...I love holding little babies and freezing time, through a picture, of their tiny fingers and feet...I love capturing the love between a newly engaged couple, or between seasoned pros!  I love it all. Every season in a person's life, from their first breaths to their last few years of life, is beautiful to me.  

What a joy it is to get to capture all these things!

Thank you, Jesus!

Kimber :)