"Being an adult" : Personal

There comes a time in everyone's life where you have to become an... **gulp**… "Adult." For some it's frightening but others rejoice in its coming. I on the other hand am currently longing for my youth back! I'm sure everyone knows what I'm taking about! The day I turned 16 I went out and got my license and two jobs! My parents warned me I would regret it but did I listen no?

Now when you have to be an adult and be responsible is when it's the hardest to be one. Bills are coming in, rent it due and the economy can look daunting at times. But, I was reading in Philippians this afternoon and came across a scripture that just fit. Philippians 3:10-14 (in the message). When the going gets tough you just have to keep your head up and keep moving forward, keep going. It took a while for me to realize what a good position I really was in… I am not the young pup I once was but I am farther along and closer to the goal! Remembrance of my youth and the prize of the future is what keeps me motivated… I’m not perfect by any means but it’s like Paul said we’re all in a race but I’m not going to finish last! “I’m off and running and I’m not turning back!”

Sure there are benefits for being young but the glory that lies with being an adult is sometimes not even recognized! Think about, we hold such a key role to this generation we can’t afford to stay in the past! With all the new technology out there and media influences the world needs strong “adults” to help teach our youth the right paths to take! One thing for sure we’ve learned from our mistakes in the past and we’re better people for it.

With each passing year we’re blessed with a new beginning in the year ahead, a fresh start. Today I felt more like an adult than I ever have, filling out my Christmas cards and praying over each one… I thank God I am not the silly 16 year old I once was and I feel lucky to be where I am today. Perhaps my yearning to be youthful again came at the perfect time, because with that I realize what a privileged it is to be grown up. Sure it’s hard sometimes but God is always there with me and that is something that has taken me years of growing up to find out! So let us join together this Christmas season and remember the blessings God’s given us and what it truly means to be an adult as we look toward the New Year with anticipation, expectancy and a fresh start!

Rory and Cole : Anytime

I had the privilege of taking Christmas photos for a dear friend of mine from work, Rory, and her adorable son Cole! These weren't the traditional Christmas photos in front of a tree but they were wonderful all the same. I loved watching how Rory and Cole reacted towards each other because just spending two minutes with them you can definitely tell they're mother and son! He's got the personality of a firecracker just always going and laughing. He brings life wherever he goes and Rory’s beauty and humor just bounces off the photos. This was by far one of my favorite family shoots! Rory just let me know and we can do another session anytime! We stopped by Bizzaro’s for lunch and then over to a park. The whole time Cole was watching kids and telling cute little jokes and laughing and just being a wonderful kid. These are my favorite shots of the day so I hope you enjoy them as we kick of the Christmas season with love and happiness!

Ecuador : Mission Trip Pictures

Ecuador, what an amazing country! I was so blessed to go and I know every one that goes on a mission trip normally says that but it's so true! You really can't appreciate the little things we take for granted here in the states like toilet paper, a soft bed, hot water, bug spray... thank God for bug spray!

We were gone a total of twelve days and actually performed 10 out of the twelve days we were there. We did over 20 shows in eight days, not including the cancer hospital we went to, two workshops and two conferences we did. We were busy!

I alone took over 3,000 pictures, most of you know, I am a picture freak! But it's a good thing, I like to remember everything :) Unfortunately I can't just post all 3,000 pictures here so maybe I will do a Showit slide show?!?!

Here's just a few notes from our trip:

1. The first hotel we stayed at didn't have hot water and was up six flights of stairs... that's right we had to climb over 65 steps twice a day to get to our room.

2. There was no hot water so all the showers were cold... but with all the sweat from our outside performances and the heat it really felt good.

3. My bed kept breaking every night.... the wood slats were too small for the frame and once any one sat on it the bed would creak and if you laid down forget it you would fall through! I laughed though what an experience!

4. We went to over seven cities: Pasaje, Guabo, Machala, Cuenca, Guyaquil, Santa Rosa, Progresso and really just ministered the love of God all the way!

5. My favorite city was Cuenca, it was just beautiful, really reminded me of European cities with all the old cathedrals and beautifully arch textured buildings.

6. Cuenca was 11,000 feet above sea level and when we went through the Andes Mountains we were over 17,000 feet above sea level and we could touch the clouds!

7. I ate guinea pig and it looked disgusting, like a sqwered rat! But it tasted like chicken! Well soft chicken at least.

8. I did not get sick once praise God!

9. Fake American food like hamburgers and pizza are disgusting! Fake Chinese food (Chifa) is wonderful!

10. A smile can break the language barrier, even if you don't know the language a smile with the love of God in it can change any one's hearts!

Yup that's right I ate this! :P

The Andes Mountains!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
~JJ :)

Angie and Josh : Wedding

It's always so beautiful to see a couple in love because they are SO much in love they just can't hide it. Everything they do together gives them away. The way they look into each others eyes or how they can't stop smiling when they're near each other. You can always tell when a couple is right for each other, their eyes give them away! That never more true than with Angie and Josh. I can truly say that this couple was made for each other. Just looking back at the pictures from their wedding the joy and love they had for each other just flows from the pictures! These are just a few of my favorite shots I wanted to share with you.... (shhhh, I don't want to spoil it yet for the bride and groom) :) So please enjoy the photos and join me in congratulating the beautiful newly weds!

FLORIDA!!!!

Ok so as a photographer there's two things you probably find yourself doing in your spare time:

1) Take photos
2) Editing photos

So as I stated earlier tonight I am finally getting to some older photos and I happened to come across a group of photos I like to call the Impulsive Essentials. These photos are random yet impulsive they are intriguing yet a necessity! These pictures are the monotonous day to day shots that you can normally tend to take for granted… but what makes these special is they are memories of places, people, buildings, things and they all make up the wonderful state I like to call Florida! So sit back, drink some lemonade and enjoy a walk through the sunshine state!

Only In Florida do babies mow the front yard! :)

Clouds outside my church