The years have flown by, almost like the blink of an eye. I started this journey 14 years ago just after the birth of my first. 5 kids, countless moves across country and back again, 2 special needs adoptions and numerous medical appointments and hospital visits related to those, I almost feel as though I lost myself to motherhood. I am looking for her again, that creative passionate spirit that fueled my once thriving photography business. She was never fully asleep for over the last several years she has been learning, growing, creating, just not for others. I captured the beautiful moments of my own children. I am so thankful for the God given talent and the ability and means necessary to do so, for I have hundreds if not thousands of beautiful images of those most precious to me,. I have dearly missed creating for others though. I have missed the connection with my clients, many of whom have become dear friends after all of these years. I have missed the gasps and tears from moms when they first see the forget me not moments of their own children’s lives. I have missed the networking, idea sharing, community among other small business owners. So although I am not ready to take on photography again full time I will be accepting a very limited number of clients starting in the fall of 2021 and I will be co-hosting a number of shootouts in the South before we set sails for our new home in Texas. In the meantime, I thought it prudent to share some of my newer images so until time allows for me to share again, may you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Category Archives: Get to know me
Adoption Across America Project
It is with great excitement I announce our final dates for an amazing photography project we are calling “Adoption Across America”. For the next couple months we are traveling across the nation to share stories of adoptive families for the purpose of encouraging others to consider adoption for themselves. If you’ve been following our personal story you already know that 8 months ago my husband, oldest son and I traveled to China to bring our little boy home. The last year or so has been the most difficult but most amazing time for our family. Just about a month ago we submitted our application to go back and bring another child home. As we wait for the day we are to be united with our child I wanted to take the time to encourage and share the amazing stories of adoption across the country. We will be driving from Pennsvylvania all the way to Southern California along the route listed below. If you’re near one of the cities (or in between) and would like to be included in the project please contact us at studio@aforgetmenotmoment.com
Our Adoption Story
Friends, what is your calling in life?
3 years ago I joined a mentoring group which was made up of 6 women of all walks of life, one of them was our “mentor”. I was the youngest in the group, the only one of two with children still at home. We met once a month for about 2 hours to pray, and talk about some different books we were reading. These books were practical bible based books all of which were extremely educational and practical for the Christian life. I was unsure about joining a group for a lot of reasons. I had a lot of reasons why I couldn’t join this group. I had to find childcare, it required a commitment of reading/studying and I didn’t know if I’d have the time to do it, the women were all much older then me.. would I feel comfortable.. the list goes on. We always come up with excuses when something is out of our comfort zone right?
Well during the year I was in this group God was really working in my heart. There wasn’t a specific moment, or a specific thing that I read in a book, or even anything special anyone said to me, but because I was regularly reading, studying, engaged with believers I was growing and the Lord was opening my heart to things I never really had considered before. That year I asked the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His.
That simple prayer started this amazing journey of adoption and it isn’t until the moment that I held my baby boy in my arms that I realized when I asked God to break my heart what He would really do was grow my heart and teach me what it truly means to love. He transformed my heart to love more passionately, more completely, and more amazingly then I ever thought possible.
It isn’t that I didn’t love my own husband or my own kids before this. Ofcourse I did, I loved each of them tremendously. But what adoption did, is it showed me how God loves me. When I knew Him not, He called to me, He desired me, He reached out to me, He rescued me, and He adopted me and made me His child. When I could offer nothing in return, He still loved me and sought me. There is nothing more amazing and awesome in the world then that kind of love.
God gave me a glimpse of that when I said yes to His calling of adoption. I started to fall in love with someone I didn’t know, had never seen, and didn’t know when I would get to meet. I had a burning desire for this person that couldn’t be explained with words. And it wasn’t just that I loved who would later be my son, it’s that as that love was forming I was also falling more deeply in love with the Lord. I began to understand more so the deep love He had for me. And it was through the giving up of myself that I truly am beginning to understand the true meaning of love. The deeper in love with God I became, the easier it was to give up on the things that held me back from adoption. Believe me, there was a big list of them too.
I’m so busy already; I just couldn’t bring another child into this family – My time.
Adoption is too expensive. We could never afford it. – My money.
How would I take care of a special needs child? I’m not equipped, I don’t have experience. – My fears.
How am I going to put all these kids through college? How will we enjoy our lifestyle of travel and leisure? How would another child fit into my plans for the future? – My path for My life.
I don’t have the energy to give to another child. What about my own children and what they want? – My kids and My ideas for what they need in life.
Every argument for not adopting was centered around ME. The Lord quietly, in His time, opened my eyes to see what was really standing in the way was me and my list of “Mys”.
What then? For me, it was the journey of adoption. It was clear to me that was what He was calling us as a family to do. I brought this desire to my husband and with much prayer and a lot of waiting for the perfect time here we are today. More blessed then I could have ever thought possible. I have a curious, inquisitive, sensitive, amazing little boy who will forever call me mom. My husband and I went on a journey of faith together which brought us closer then we have ever been. My children have a real tangible understanding of selfless sacrifice, unconditional love, and our calling to be the light of the world. More doors have been opened with friends and family to share Jesus then ever have to us before. We can now share what it means to be adopted into the family of God in a more powerful way because we’ve experienced the love and meaning of adoption.
So I go back to my original question. What is your calling in life? I don’t know if it’s to adopt. But don’t just right it off as something God may want you to consider. Do not let your list of “My’s” get in your way of the blessings that God has in store for you.
Maybe God is calling you into a relationship with Him. “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16. “ Romans 10:9 says “If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you haven’t made Jesus the Lord of your life, please consider doing that now.
Lastly, I want to share with you our story of adoption in images because you all know that is how I communicate best. I hope you are not only blessed by our story, but moved to take action for the cause of the orphan, or whatever cause God has laid upon your heart. With all of our love….
Philadelphia Zoo – Travel Hacking with kids
There is ALOT to do in Philadelphia. We’ve been there 4 times now and every time I go I wish we could stay longer. Its a beautiful city full of incredible history. But aside from all of the historical landmarks in the town, there is still So much to do. You’ve got the Ben Franklin Center, the Please Touch Museum, the parks, the gardens, the shopping, the list goes on. The only way I think you can really enjoy all what Philly has to offer is to move up here for a year or two and do something at least once a month. This past weekend we went to the Philadelphia Zoo. Now to be honest, I was not all that excited about going to another zoo. We’ve been to the “big” name zoos in both San Diego and North Carolina not to mention countless other smaller zoos around the country. We’ve seen pretty much every animal there is to see in a zoo and although the reviews on Trip Advisor were pretty great, I was ready to be unimpressed. I was certainly mistaken though and here are the reasons why the Philly zoo is now officially my favorite!
1. It’s the first zoo in the United States. That fact alone makes it pretty cool.
2. The rare animal hall is amazing and has some of the most unusual animals I had ever seen.
3. The great mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits. This comes in handy especially on a super sunny or hot/humid day. Just when you’re about to die from the heat you can escape to an indoor area (most.. but not all are air conditioned)
4. The awesome 360 exhibits. The animals aren’t confined to one little area of the zoo here in Philadelphia. Many of the cages have tunnels which spread all around the property so you can see monkeys swinging above you as your walking through or cougars running up and down the path as you’re eating your lunch. Also, most of the main exhibits are really close to the walkways so you really feel very near the animals. I suppose this also means that the animals don’t have as large of a space to roam as other zoos.. but for the spectator, this makes for a more personal experience.
I didn’t bring a zoom lens with me to the zoo, and I was still able to get many “close” shots of the animals.
5. The Philadelphia zoo is part of the Zoo reciprocal membership. I can’t stress this point enough if you are an avid traveler. Buy yourself a family membership at your local (or semi-local) museum and use it for the year to get into other places all over the country. You can check out the entire list here: https://www.aza.org/
I’d recommend joining a place that also has a membership in the Association of Science and Technology Centers. That way you will get discounts and/or free tickets to both zoos and science museums around the country. Here is the link for those:
Fairy Minis in July
Pin it to win it! Win a fairy mini photo session (located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania) sometime during the month of July! Your little girl (or boy) will love to dress up, make wishes, and have a grand time dreaming of living in Neverland as a fairy. Ages 3-12, mommas can participate as well! Good luck and may all your dreams come true!
Pin it to win it!
We have a ton of really awesome locations planned for sessions this year and we cannot wait to come and photograph in some new beautiful American cities. On the list for 2015, Greensboro, Winston Salem, and the Triad ofcourse + LOTS more. Do you know anyone in Boston, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, Atlantic City, New York City, San Diego? If so, you’ll want to share this with them!! We’ll be giving away one mini session in each location just for pinning and sharing our blog images! That’s right, you have to do nothing but pin one of our on location images seen below and you’ll be entered to win! Contact us directly for more information about these very special comic book sessions today.
2015 Session Locations Announced
It’s January. It’s cold. No I mean it’s really cold! Now compared to last year, this winter has been a breeze, but I like to think I’m still in North Carolina or something. I don’t know.. 18 inches of snow? I don’t think I can get used to that. Crazy as it is, I know next year (especially if we end up in Hawaii or Florida) I’ll be missing the snow right about now. Isn’t that funny. You always want what you don’t have right? I’m trying to enjoy the time in the house, cooped up with the kids, too lazy to get them bundled up just to get bundled out.. just to clean up the mess when we get back home 😉 So, we stay home.. doing our homeschooling, enjoying each other’s company (most of the time). It’s a rather slow.. or should I say dead time for portraits around here because noone wants to be out when its -5 degrees. NOONE. The good thing is, its giving me a change to get caught up on some things that need done.. like blogging.. and scheduling. I’ve sat down in front of the calendar and figured out when we’ll be available and where.. so here it is. Now let the family portraits for 2015 begin! A little sunshine would be nice too! 😉
Sugarbush Maple Farm – Vermont – New England in the fall
Right off of interstate 89 and Hwy 4 tucked in the hills of Vermont is a beautiful Maple Tree farm. We took a couple hours this fall to take in the scenery, stock up on some true Vermont maple syrup, pet the animals, and learn about what goes on at a real Maple Sugaring Farm. There are a few main areas to this place. First, the maple tree trail, which in the peak of fall is absoulutely stunning. This is where the majority of these photos were taken. Second, there are a few animals which ofcourse the kids will enjoy. Thirdly, the little country store where you can purchase smoked cheeses, pure maple syrup, and other delectable treats. We took home a huge container of syrup (who goes to Vermont and doesn’t”), a great selection of smoked cheese, and some of their really yummy sauces and dip mixes. Who knew a trip to the farm could get so pricey? Lastly, and most interesting in my opinion is the building where you get educated about the process of how they actually harvest and make the maple syrup they sell. This places is a lovely stop to any VT vacation, especially in the fall! You can check them out here: http://www.sugarbushfarm.com/
Natural Bridge State Park, MA. – Travel Hacking – Family Photos
There is a little gem tucked away on what seems like a desserted road on the way to Vermont from Pennsylvania. It’s the Natural Bridge State Park in MA. It took us a bit of time to find it as the GPS took us to a back entrance instead of the front. Its nothing showing, nothing grand, but definitely worth stopping at if you’re on a long road trip and looking for a place to go exploring for a couple hours. There is a nice little visitor center area, a few different trails to walk along. These pictures were shot down the hill (near the parking area) NOT along the regular path. We like to do that.. go places where few dare to explore. The kids were excited to find the creek, and mom was excited just to see something so beautiful for me to take photos of.