40 Years

A week ago, I had the distinct pleasure of capturing a piece of history. My personal history, because this is family, and there is nothing stronger in my life than family. In college, I couldn’t wait for breaks to go to my hometown and be surrounded by the noise, insanity, love, and affection of my extended family. I was shocked to learn that my college friends didn’t have the same feeling of homecoming, and I realized then what a lucky person I was to be blessed with the family I have.

When my aunt asked me in the spring to help commemorate the 40th anniversary of her marriage, I was thrilled. Stunned, overwhelmed, honored, and thrilled.

Being only 35, it is hard for me to conceptualize a 40 year relationship. One that you choose to continue, in large and small ways, on a daily basis. One that sustains you and supports you. I have been blessed to witness and learn from several strong marriages in my family; this is just one example. I’ve seen arguments, laughter, discipline, support, contentment, change, upheaval, tension, and lots and lots of laughter. I’d love to share with you what I learned about two important people in my life this past weekend

Their sense of family does not stop at their own children. It includes mine:

Ice cream is better when you share it, even if it gives you an ice cream headache:

Even after 40 years, you aren’t allowed to dress yourself without having your wife ‘fix’ it:

Although passions and interests will change, and they aren’t always shared:

For a marriage to be a success, those passions and interests should be supported:

Here are a few that show my aunt and uncle as I know them:






A life of love and laughter, simple moments shared and enjoyed, stories told and retold, traditions passed from generation to generation, a life shared and a family built.


Jayne’s parents on her wedding day; Lawrence and Ruth Parrott:


Gary and Jayne Magee, August 11th, 1970:
(don’t they look happy?)

Thank you for allowing me to capture memories for you and your children. It is my sincere hope that I’ve captured the things you love about each other, and I wish you 40 more years of love.

(slideshow)

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Another good idea...

One thing that I want for my business to set it apart is customer service. I'm not so hot at it right now but it is a 2010 goal to improve.

I was reading INC. mag today (so surprised how awesome this magazine is.) and they suggested that you write out 10 customer service goals and POST THEM in your space.



Now I need 10 customer service goals.

Gratitude, Day One

Gratitude: the state of being grateful, THANKFULLNESS

I'm trying hard to make goals I can stick with. Goals that include me making drastic changes are always doomed to fail, goals that take me too far out of my comfort zone are going to crash and burn within hours of their conception. (things like a routine for laundry or even general cleaning, or being consistent, or remembering my goal once it is written down... these things border on impossible for me)

For September, my creative cycle is set to 'inspiration' and in particular, THANKFULLNESS. Next month marks an important milestone for my business, and is making me think back on the last 18 months. When I do, I see people. I see the faces of the people who matter, the people who make LHP a success. So, my goal this month is to make sure they know how GRATEFUL for them I truly am.

This first post is dedicated to the families who made my first attempts at capturing their personalities a reality. They know who they are, but here are their names:

Thanks to Beth and Curtis, who stuck with me through my first session, even when "R" didn't like the water, and both kids wouldn't stop throwing sand. That reality made up some of my favorite images from that day. Your continued support means more than you will ever know, and I cannot wait to find out which images are your favorites from this year's session!

Thanks to Amy and Mike, (and Mike's parents!) who allowed me to follow them around while they played, get baby-cuddles, and capture their kids in a setting where they were totally comfortable to be themselves. Here's to another great session early next month!

Thanks to Jaime and Jeremy, who put up with strange archery equipment smack dab in the middle of my beautiful location, and made the appearance of this stuff into a fun time instead of just something really strange. Also, thanks for the FB-love, when you say I captured the boys personalities perfectly you have no idea how much that means.

Thanks to Lynn and Ron. I'll have my 2nd session in a cemetery this weekend, and yours from last year is proof positive that it can totally create beautiful images. Thanks for trusting me to not include any tombstones in your family portraits, and for using my images on your holiday cards last year! I hope our new location this fall provides the same opportunity, although it is impossible to take a bad picture of your beautiful little girl!

And finally, Thanks to Olivia and Chuck, even though Chuck did an awesome 'duck and cover' to avoid being in any pictures! The location we used continues to get comments from my portfolio, and the challenge of 3 active kids provided a wonderful learning experience.

A sincere thank you to the families that made the first summer of experimenting, trial and error, and blind faith a true blessing. Your continued support is the backbone of my business, and your faith keeps me going.

(PS - I promise that I have that hard drive issue resolved, and if I lost your pictures last year IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. )

Much love and gratitude,
Lani

There are two sides to life:

Resentment or Gratitude.

Pick one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QJWDblz6ks

Thinking...

Things that are currently ping-ponging around in my head:
Work/Life balance.
Owning a business while being a stay-at-home mom.
How valuable is my time?
Where should I be focusing my time right now?
What's next?
How many more days can I listen to the same Pandora station before I'm sick of it?
Priorities.
Next photo session.
Next 4 photo sessions.
Customer service.
Endless to-do lists.

Happy Tuesday

Today's game plan is more work on branding and identity. So important! It was fun yesterday, and I made some serious progress. However, two days in a row feels a lot more like work...

All good things come to those who wait...

In February, I thought for sure I had to have a website to be successful this year. I thought it had to be perfect. I even had some written text for some of the pages. Then, my external hard drive crashed. (still feeling the pain from some lost images of my boys) So, that set me back months. I did finally purchase my domain name, and threw some stuff up, but it is so far from perfect that I try really hard to not show people... not exactly the purpose of a website! Summer came along, and I got busy, and the website stayed the way it was, even though it's, well, it's, um.... it's crap. It serves a purpose, but yeah. I can definitely do better.

I've been working on some ideas, and I'm loving where it is going. Yea Me!