ITs a New year, New Beginnings, New Goals

Talk about new beginnings. I've had one goal for the past few years. To go to Africa. It was constantly on my mind. I prayed about it, but hardly ever talked about it. But my ideas about what I want to do are trivial, God's ideas and His plans for me are grand; awe-inspiring. So this week I am preparing for my Mission Trip to Bangkok, Thailand. I am going with an organization called W.A.R (Women at Risk). We are going over there to meet and minister to women who have escaped from prostitution. I'm taking my camera of course, to document our experience over there, so that I can come back and share it with people. It is a very surreal feeling to know that I will be in Thailand this time next week. I have had a deep growing passion and desire to do mission work, but I guess the time was never really right. One week I prayed that God would show me the way, to open a door for me, and the following week my cousin told me about W.A.R. and this trip. Of course I couldn't stop thinking about it. A month later we made the decision and decided to walk through that door together. So we will be leaving Thursday morning bright and early! While I am over there I pray that the Holy Spirit guides my artistic abilities, so I can come back and share my experiences with everyone through my photos. I doubt I will have a chance, or the time to blog while I am over there, but I will give it a shot. 

Until then here are a few photos I've taken since my last post. Enjoy...

My Husband, Daniel, and I purchased an RV last year. We planned on Touring the old Route 66 and going all the way to California. But new and exciting things came our way and we decided to put that little trip off for a while. The RV was perfect in every way, it was an old 1987 Fleetwood Bounder. It had a nice full size bed, a bunk my husband built, a shower, a tiny kitchen, and of course a little flat screen TV. It looked old, but it had character, it was meant for us. I would always daydream about taking off and having an adventure of a lifetime. I wanted to live off the road, see new things and meet all kinds of people, and document it with my camera. It was very appealing to me. I think it was always in the back of our minds; we always wanted to go. Not ever knowing when the time was right we kept waiting to take it out. 

So last weekend Daniel had a show he was playing in Enid and we decided to have our first little adventure in the RV. We figured this would be a safe trip, since it wasn't too far away from home. So we prepared the RV for the trip, cleaned it up, new batteries, oil change, new bedding, etc. Friday afternoon we hit the road. The feeling was indescribable, it was so exciting to be taking it out, and at the same time we were pretty nervous. I told myself nothing will go wrong, but it was still in the back of my mind that something would. It was just too good to be true. That week Daniel was considering going on tour in November, and all I could think about was taking the RV and "Hitting the Road." Having my "Adventure of a Lifetime."

Well, we had 20 minutes of pure bliss before we saw the smoke and heard the terrible noises come from the engine. Our adventure was over. We pulled over on the side of the highway, and soon realized the RV was probably done for. Two hours later, leaving the RV behind forever, we pulled away from the mechanic. Our dreams were crushed, but our spirits were high. We realized that it happened for a reason, and something even better will come our way. 

During all this I took a few photos with my phone....

The other day I did a session with a little family of three. Everything about it was perfect. The weather was just right, it was the perfect time of day and the lighting was excellent. The little girls name was Ryanne. She has some of the prettiest blue eyes i've ever seen and she also has the cutest little mouth, and made some very funny expressions. She was so fun and easy to photograph. She could barely sit still but I think that's what made it so perfect. I just followed her with my camera and captured her in the moment. She was happy, and very playful.  Not every session happens this way. Sometimes they can happen just the opposite and I'm just as happy with the end result. Every session is different, and I always try to capture what's happening around me. Whether it's a photo of a child laughing, or staring at me with an almost serious expression, as if they know something more, I am just as pleased. I captured that child in that split second of pure joy, or that split second when they had a quiet thought. Children are always fun to photograph; you never really know what you're gonna get. 

This Photo was taken the same day. Again, I was experimenting with slow shutter speeds. I was just having some fun with this one.