Realities & Blessings...

Happy Friday, everyone! We've done it...we've made it through another week. This one felt very long to me for some reason...perhaps due to sleep deprivation. But anyways, I am really looking forward to this weekend. There calling for sunshine and warmth and we plan to do some outside work and some gardening.

So let's get to it: the part of the week where I mentally turn the realities of my life into blessings so that I can enter the weekend with a fresh perspective. And this week I'm sharing with you the rest of the pics from a mini session I had with my girls on Friday night {the others I shared in Wednesday's post}.

Reality: After resisting for nearly I year, I have caved and joined Facebook. As if I really need another social media addiction {I am already a Flickr addict and a blog junkie!}, I now have yet another place to go and waste time that I do not have.

Blessing: You know, it really is kind of neat. And as soon as it's newness wears off, I'm sure I'll be able to exhibit a little more self control. I'm getting to chat with siblings and cousins as well as members of my growing online network of friends. It's deepening my relationships all over the place and I like that! Plus, Maya is teething again so we are not sleeping at night and she is nursing way more during the day...so what else is a sleepy mama strapped to a baby and chair to do? If you're on FB and you haven't found me yet, please do so!

Reality: I really {as in REALLY} need to get some organizational systems in place. I'm just not an organized person and I need some new routines that enable me to manage all my tasks.
Blessing: My chaotic life is a great motivator to get some new working systems in place. Rayne will be done with school in a few weeks and I'll be able to begin some new routines and habits and hopefully streamline a few of the processes going on around here. We are also having a huge yard sale here in a few weeks and I think the purging of a lot of bulk and excess will pave the way for more simplified living. So even though big changes have not been made around here yet, they are coming!

Reality: I had my very first portrait session this week and I made quite a few elementary mistakes. I was nervous and therefore felt too quiet to ask for poses and such right off the bat. I'm very used to just quietly following my kids around, snapping photos constantly...they barely even notice the camera between them and me. I really had to pull back and remember that I had to communicate with my subjects a bit more and not just snap constant pictures. It's an adjustment that is going to take time getting used to. I'm way more comfortable with shooting people as they are than trying to pose them.
Blessing: My first experience went rather well for any portrait session...let alone my first! Sharon and her family were so easy to work with and it really helped that we are friends and already comfortable with each other. The experience was so important and I've really seen that I want to continue practicing portraits outside my family so that I can get better and hopefully start doing them professionally at some point. Honestly, the whole experience was one big blessing! {btw...thank you sooooo much for all your kind words on the sneak peek! You guys made me feel wonderful!}

Well, I'm tired and I'm really ready to wrap up this week and start working towards the weekend. I'd love it if you joined in on the R&B fun...if you do, please link back here and feel free to leave your link in the comments!

Have a great weekend, friends! I hope to be by sometime...to say hello if nothing else. But if not, I'll see you Monday with the rest of Sharon's maternity photos!