Category: My Life

Well, I finally finished school. My graduation application has been sent in and now all I have to do is wait for my diploma to come in the mail. I am receiving a BA in Communications from Thomas Edison State College. My family is going to have a graduation ceremony in August after my intensive so pics from that will come then. It is really a God story how I managed to do high school and college at the same time. So, here it is…

Ever since I started school, I thought it was important to get a degree. As I progressed through high school, I realized that I wanted to pursue dancing through college. I thought I would get a degree in dance (and possibly double major in something else writitng related) then find a teaching job somewhere. So, I started looking into colleges that offered a dance major. None of them really clicked–I either didn't like the academics and the dance program was good or the academics were great and the dance program was just not where I wanted to be. The summer before my junior year of high school, I realized that God was leading me to pursue a career as a professional dancer. But I still wanted a degree and I knew that it would be hard to do both. One night, while Mommy was looking into debate classes for Joshua, she came across and ad for CollegePlus! It was an answered prayer. I enrolled in November of 2008 and took my first CLEP in February of 2009. I enrolled in TESC in December and took my classes February-June 2010. And now I'm done!

I am so glad that I have a degree under my belt. Now, I am wondering what I am going to do with myself. I have kind of hidden behind school for the last seven years of my life. It kept me busy (along with ballet of course) and gave me an excuse for not being social. Mommy called it my crutch. Well now, my crutch is gone and I have a new plan. I am going to expend most of my energy focusing on ballet. I also hope to get to work on some of my goals for 2010 (one of which is to blog more often) and meet new people but there isn't really a fully conrete plan yet (just a half dried one). I am excited about this new phase of life but also a little nervous. However, I know that God will put me exactly where I can be used best for His glory and though the future is uncertain, I have peace in that.

In addition to my studio shoot with Whitelake Studio, we also did two on location shoots. First, we went to a purple flower field (actually it is a cultivated weed). I did some pictures in the tutu and pointe shoes. It was so hard to "dance" on the uneven ground. For a few pictures, I tried to stand on a stump. We also did some casual pictures in my white sun dress. Mostly these were done in a field with hay bales. Bryan got one really cool picture (actually he got a lot of cool pics) of me blowing a dandelion. As usual, it was a very relaxed shoot where I got to choose most of the poses.

The third shoot was in an urban setting. We did some in the tutu at train tracks. These turned out very nice. We also did an alley way which produced some great shots. In both locations Joshua got to hold the reflector to get the best lighting.

  
 
 
Finished products and more detail about what we did after the shoots coming soon.

2 years (that was fast)

120 posts (nice round number)

and a grand total of 78 comments

Two years already? yep. It was acutally yesterday but today's post will have to suffice. I wanted to do a giveaway but I don't have the time now. So, I'll probably do one this summer.

photo from here

Well, today I turn 18. I am legally an adult in the world. I thought or would be fun to make a list of things I can do now that I couldn't do yesterday (but I would never dream of doing some of them).

1. I can vote
2. I can join the military
3. I can get in the hot tub at the Y
4. I can get tattoos and peircings without parental consent
5. I can legally sign documents
6. I can drive between midnight and 6am
7. I can buy tobacco
8. I can legally get married

Let me know if you think of any more!

So, I technically should have gotten my senior pics done this summer but we weren't sure who we wanted to do them. We wanted someone who captured my personality and was artistic at the same time and we finally decided on Whitelake Studio. Mommy had been looking at their work for a while and from what we saw, it looked like a good match.

 
Before we had our first session, we had a meeting with Bryan. He took the time to show us his gallery and get to know me. He asked about my interests and what I wanted to capture at this time of my life. We decided that we wanted to record my personality, passions, and story. To help get a better idea of what I wanted, Bryan asked me to write out my story (maybe I'll blog it sometime). At this meeting, we set goals for what we wanted to do in each session and discussed different ideas. He encouraged me to bring not only different outfits but "props" or things that were important in my life (yes, I brought Alice). At this meeting, we decided to do 3 sessions: one in the studio, one in the purple flower field, and one in the urban setting. At each session, I would do some photos in regular clothes and some ballet photos.

My first session was in the studio a few weeks ago. I always feel a little awkward getting my picture made and it was at first. But after a few shots, it became more natural. One thing I really liked about Bryan is that he lets you choose your poses. Sometimes he'll offer a suggestion or say 'look here' but for the most part, the photo shoot is directed by the subject. I feel like this makes the process easier and the finished project more original and satisfying.

 
 During this first session, Bryan focused not only on taking pictures but really capturing me. He tried to show my spiritual and and balletic sides as well as just me as a person. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and I'm looking forward to our next sessions. Here's a peak at some of the pics. I can't wait to see the others. Oh, he's working on a new product to be revealed soon–I'm not giving any hints though.

Visit their website here and there's more on their facebook and blog. I highly recommend Whitelake for your next portrait session. They are reasonably priced and the results are amazing. After all they see "your life as art."
 
  

I couldn't think of anything to write about so I just decided to do a stream of consciousness for the first post of year. One of my goals for 2010 is to blog more consistently and substantially. I have alot of ideas but not enough time to write them. 2010 holds a lot of knowns and a lot of unknowns. I'm just trusting that God knows what He is doing. I know He does. That's one of the things He's been teaching me. Last year He also taught me that His timing is perfect but that's another story for another day. 

Sometimes I think I try too hard. I try to make everything perfect the first time but that's what the rough draft is for; that's why we take class and rehearse everyday. So that one day when it's published or on stage it is almost perfect. I guess that's why one of my main corrections is to relax. It was kind of a theme last year. God was reminding me that I can't but He can. I just need to rest in the fact that He's got it under control. Now that doesn't give me permission to loaf. But it does give me peace that even if something doesn't go right the first time, it's okay.

2010 is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to meeting my goals, making new friends, and experiencing new things. What are you looking forward to? 

I took another unintended blog break. I don't have anything terribly interesting prepared right now but here's a collage of pictures of the past few weeks. Oh, by the way this is my hundredth post!! Hooray! 

Almost two years ago, I was reading The Cross and the Switchblade. In the story, David Wilkerson gives the shoes off of his feet to a homeless man. When I read that, I felt that God wanted me to go to Atlanta right then and give a homeless man a blanket. When I went to tell Daddy, he said I had three problems.

1. I didn’t have a way to get to Atlanta
2. I didn’t have a blanket
3. I didn’t have a homeless guy

A few weeks later, I was invited to dance at a luncheon for senior citizens. At the luncheon, we played Bingo and I happened to win, of all things, a blanket (problem #2 solved). I knew that this was the blanket I was supposed to give to the homeless man. Now all I needed was someone to give it to. So I put the blanket in the car and waited for an opportunity.

Last school year, we started going to Atlanta regularly (problem #1 solved) and I kept my eyes out for the guy. I saw many homeless men but none seemed to be the right one.

On Wednesday, we stopped at McDonald’s before we headed home. As Mommy was unlocking the car a man came to the window and asked for money to get on MARTA. She asked him how much it cost and gave him $2.00. She also asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He said he only wanted a #3 (which is a quarter pounder). We went through the drive-through to get the food and he was waiting for us at the end. We gave him the food and the blanket, asked his name, said we would be praying for him, and went home. And that’s how God used a book, bingo and a blanket to make His name great.