. {{Deep Breath}} I found out today that our Maria Antoinette shoot is being considered by my favorite national wedding magazine Grace Ormonde Wedding STYLE! It is currently being reviewed by their art department. Even if we don't make it the magazine it's a HUGE honor that they would even consider us!
Channeling Marie Antoinette and her regal beauty and the high elegance of French royalty, a collaborative effort was made to design an inspiration to reality shoot that would be fascinatingly gorgeous and filled with ideas appropriate for the modern bride.
Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.
Hello my Blog friends. I know...I know I've been awful at blogging lately. So if you don't following me on facebook you may not know this.... August 20th I was rushing down our steps had a run in with the hand weights left at the end of the steps:( Long story short I stepped on a weight-fell down the steps and was rushed her to Miami Valley where I was diagnosed with 3 fractures in my right foot. Today marks 2 weeks of 6 weeks wearing a non-weight bearing cast. I rescheduled allot of my shoots but somethings can not be rescheduled. I've always wondered what if something were to happened to me the day before or day of a wedding...I found out! I'm very proud to say that a few of my friends in the business really stepped forward and helped me out and for this I'm forever grateful. Although I know i have amazing help it's still me...picturesbytracy they hired so I have not missed a wedding or or important must do now session. It's been challenging I'm not going to lie...I've endured pain & depression over the last two weeks but somehow found the strength to keep working and pushing forward. The difficult times are often the best teachers, and there is good to be found in all situations I know.
Words cannot express how thankful I am for you Mandy. I know your probably getting tired of hearing it but you are amazing and I can not thank you enough! I hope what you did for me comes back 10 folds.
Katie and Paul, thank you both for your love and understanding. All that I could focus on when I got hurt was that I had your wedding the next day. I'm so glad everything worked out. Katie your sweet kind voice telling me that everything would be OK and not to worry "tears" was all that I needed to hear at that moment.
One of my best friends is pregnant with her 1st {babies} YEP twins, a boy and a girl:) It would be so very easy for me (us) to be very jealous of her right now...because she looks GORGEOUS and her bump is perfect! Love ya girl.... Happy birthday, I hope yoor having a good day.
Enjoy your sneak peek...
I seriously cannot stop thinking about all the beautiful stories I received, so many deserving ladies. I've decided to choose 2 runner-ups:)
* Julie Cook ....
My name is Amber Cohen and I would like to nominate my sister, Julie Cook, to be a Blush supermodel for the day. My sister is 36 years old and has never truly realized how beautiful she is. I would love to see her comfortable with herself, in her own skin, with who she is. To me she is amazingly beautiful and anyone who knows her sees it too. She is one of the most amazing, giving people I have ever met. She had difficulties conceiving and then was fortunate to give birth to twins, twice. Her first pregnancy was very stressful when she realized at 4 months along that there was an abnormality with her daughter. At birth, they tried to save her, but she passed away at two weeks. My sister and her husband survived this ordeal and cared for their surviving son. She continued to give birth to twins again and has two more amazing little boys. At about 8 months of age, they discovered that their son, Ethan, has a chromosome deletion and is severely handicapped. They have dealt with numerous surgeries and doctor visits, trying to give him the best care possible. My sister has gone through all of this and become a stronger woman. Ethan inspired her to start nursing school. She is working to get her RN after being the primary caregiver for Ethan. She is juggling school, caring for her children, and taking care of her home. She inspires me on a daily basis. She often forgets to take care of herself or simply does not have the time. I would love for my sister to feel as special and as beautiful as she is.
*Nikki Cordell-Miller....
Let me first start by saying that this is a wonderful thing that you are doing! All women should feel beautiful – though we always either 1-don’t…or 2-don’t have time to put in the effort because of other things going on in our lives. This is a great gift that you are giving & I know that the lucky lady who is chosen will be very well deserving!I would like to nominate someone. Her name is Nikki Cordell-Miller. I reconnect with her on Facebook after talking to my step-father (her Grandpa). He tells me that she is married, and has a daughter of her own now. But, she has a disability and has made it her full time job to stay with her. Tracy….I was totally amazed at the woman that Nikki has become. Truly blown away! She has a beautiful 5 yr old little girl named Leah. Leah was diagnosed with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). From the reading that I’ve done…and from what my step-father has told me-many of these children don’t live past the age of 2. Nikki has made it her full-time job to stay at home & care for Leah. I’m sure that this is a struggle emotionally, physically & financially. But I have to tell you…you would never get that from her FB messages! Everyday is a gift!! You should see all the pictures that she has of Leah! She documents EVERY SINGLE MOMENT!! Her hair is always done & she wears the prettiest clothes & usually has ribbons & bows in her long dark hair. This child is always smiling. So, in closing I guess I want to say that this is a woman that I have not seen in over 20 yrs…that I’ve reconnected with via the Internet & have grown to admire very deeply! I can’t imagine the strength that it takes to do what she does day in & day out. You talk about beauty inside & out – you are referring to Nikki. Please take a moment & look at Leah’s website. If you click on ‘My Story’, it gives personal info about what the family has done. The entire website is SUPER!! They love this little girl and are fighting daily for her. Here is the link:
http://www.our-sma-angels.com/LeahJean/
Hi Julie,
I would like to give you a $250 gift certificate that you can use toward any type of photo session you would like. You truly do represent what it is like to be beautiful inside and out.
Nikki:) This seems like a very appropriate gift for you...
Mommy & Me Photo Shoot
-1 hour session at your home or a location of our choosing, digital retouching on images, and an online web gallery for viewing and ordering photos, along with a beautiful little book of images that you can carry in your purse.
And last but not least there are a few more stories that I adore and would like to offer them $100 off a Blush Session.
-Mrs. Sommers, your sister wrote the most beautiful letter nominating you.
{ her husband Jeff has orders to deploy yet again back to Afghanistan. Their kids are a little older now and when their daddy is gone it hits them so hard. My niece recently drew a picture for her daddy while he was gone TDY for two weeks & it read "Dear daddy, I know you miss me so much. I miss you to. Love, Allison" My sister is basically a single mother to a 7 year old, 5 year old and 2 year old. She is also putting herself through school full time. I honestly don't know how she does it! She is all alone when he is gone, but manages to continually keep their family together. She is an amazing mother, loving sister & my absolute best friend.}
-Julia O'Conner Branham your daughter wrote us such a heartfelt letter, here is just a little bit of what she had to say...
{My mother has taught me that when you set your mind to something... anything is possible. Life has thrown many obstacles at my mother. She is the strongest woman I know. She has proved to me that no matter what life throws at you... The sun will rise and set tomorrow.}Lisa Adams....you are truly beautiful inside and out. Thank you for sharing beautiful story.
My name is Lisa Adams. I live in Englewood, and I am a mother of three children. Zachary, my oldest, is fourteen, next is Jacob, who would have been eleven, and then lastly is my daughter, Jadyn, who is eight. I have wonderful children, and I consider myself to be very fortunate and blessed to be lucky enough to be their mother.
Even though life brings up challenges and obstacles, the key to success is within. In my experience, if a person stays true to their goals, does not give up, is determined, strong, or in some cases, stubborn, that person will succeed.
I have been pursuing my college degree, on and off, for twenty years. I went to a local community college after high school, but after a year or so of attending part-time, I became discouraged, and quit. I enrolled again about a decade or so later, after the death of my son.
My son, Jacob, passed away when he was 13 months old. Jacob had Down Syndrome. In addition, he had a congential heart defect, which is common to babies with Down Syndrome. His life was determined to be “fragile” until finally he was healthy enough to have open heart surgery to repair the defect. Jacob had open heart surgery when he was seven months old and came through just fine. We had 7 healthy, wonderful, months with him, until he got what is called RSV. RSV, which can be fatal, is a respiratory virus, and for Jacob, it caused a complication, pulmonary hypertension. In addition, while in the hospital, he contracted influenza. All three conditions were too much and he passed away in January 10, 2000.
I tried several things to ease my grief. I adopted pets, went to grief groups, volunteered for childcare at Miami Valley Down Syndrome Association (MVDSA) meetings, attended MVDSA mom meetings so I could play with the Down Syndrome children, I had another child, and I also enrolled back in college. College was an excellent distraction and outlet because it allowed me to write and talk about Jacob. I stayed in school until my divorce. Going through a divorce is of course difficult, but Chris and I have been able to remain close and amicable.
Several years went by before I enrolled in classes again. I began to feel very unhappy and dissatisfied with my professional life. In addition, I wanted to be a good role model for my children. Even more, I wanted my family, more specifically, my Grandmothers, to be proud of me. Growing up, I was closer to my Grandmothers than my parents, and my Grandparents were the ones who were there for me providing guidance, support, and their unconditional love. I have always been close with my Grandmothers, however, as I transitioned into woman and motherhoods, my Grandmothers were two of the dearest, treasured, and valued people in my life. I confided in them, and their guidance inspired and motivated me to become a better mother, wife, friend, student, and overall, a better person.
When I decided to enroll again, I did it with the intention of finally finishing my degree. I was working another dead-end job and attending school part-time when I was laid-off. Thank goodness I am married to the most wonderful and incredible man ever! My husband Mike is very loving, generous, and his thoughtfulness blows my mind. Mike suggested I stay at home with the kids and go to school full-time, so that is what I did. Mike made enormous sacrifices for me. He became the sole provider for me and my children, took on more side-jobs to earn extra money, and he made budgetary changes. He is the kind of husband that said, “Honey, since you are staying at home and going to school full-time, let’s buy a pool membership so you and the kids can have fun this summer”.
Being able to stay home and go to school provided me with extraordinary opportunities. I was able to spend more time with my Grandma Kline. We had a “play-date” every Tuesday. I picked her up and we went to lunch, ran errands, went shopping, grocery shopping, I helped her around the house, and I took her to doctor’s appointments. During that summer, her health deteriorated and she needed additional help. I was able spend even more time with her, just helping in taking care of her. Sadly, she passed away September 17, 2008, but I was so thankful I was able to have the time spend with her. More recently, I had another extraordinary opportunity. We had plans to go to Florida and visit my Grandparents over spring break. However, my Grandma was in the hospital. At the beginning of the week, we thought she was going to get better and be discharged to a rehab center before going home. She thought rehab was going to be awful, but I told her I would stay with her, and we would do it together. By the end of the week, her condition had changed, and rehab was no longer an option. Because I was going to stay with her and my Grandfather, she was discharged home under Hospice’s care. Sadly, Mike and my children had to say goodbye to her while she was still in the hospital. On the down side, I said goodbye to Mike and my children, not knowing when I was going to see them again. Yet on the positive side, my opportunity to stay with her allowed me to plan a family reunion, my Grandparents 63rd wedding anniversary party, and an after-party for every day thereafter. The week she was home, was my opportunity to show her how much I loved her and show much she meant to me. I treated that week as a testament of my love, devotion, and admiration of her. There was no doubt, she knew every second of every passing moment, how much she meant to me. My Grandma passed away April 11, 2010.
Now, my college graduation has passed and my last day of school has passed. I went to graduation ceremonies on May 8 and my last day of class was May 24, 2010. Even though I had my husband’s loving support all they way, I still had to stay true to my goals, and not give up. And when times got tough, I had to pull strength from places I didn’t know I had. In the darkest moments is when you shine the most, you may not see your light, but others do…and they will follow it. I have succeeded in achieving my goals because of the encouragement from those that have meant the most to me, my husband, children, and my Grandma’s. I earned 2 bachelors and graduated summa cum laude. I could not have done it without those here beside me and those watching over me from above. My life can be an example of how people can still achieve their goals, no matter how long it takes or challenges life brings.
Thank you for your consideration,
Lisa M. Adams
Lisa your going to be our a super model for a day. Enjoy hair and makeup, photoshoot and gift prints. Michelle and I are looking forward to giving you a day to remember!
