Evoke Images Blog &raquo; Couture Photography in St. Louis, MO

Balance…. and push pops | Personal

August 30, 2010 Posted in Personal

It would be so nice to have a little schedule-fairy to sit on my shoulder.

For real, it doesn’t even have to be a fairy… A talking squirrel would do just fine. I need a little creature to keep me on task and remind me to FOCUS when I get distracted!

You will have to forgive me, as this post has practically NOTHING to do with photography! However, I am who I am, and this is me in real life. It doesn’t get any more real than this, people! Given this is totally off-topic, you are hereby excused from reading any further! lol

This past weekend I have been obsessing over my (practically non-existent) daily agenda. There are so many things that I need to get accomplished and so many things that I want to do… not going to lie, it is overwhelming.

Although I am great at meeting my deadlines and following schedules that relate to my business, my personal goals and plans are a different thing all together. I have been finding it hard to balance business/family/pleasure.

My guess is that this is an age-old dilemma. Time – it is what it is! You can’t stop it or delay it, you can’t rewind and have a do-over… it is what it is!

Balance.

I think the key must be balance.

But where do I start to find my balance? How do you filter the real priorities from the self-imposed ones? Balance…

I assume that to start – I need to figure out what things are most important to me….

I need to work into my daily schedule: Bible reading & devotions, exercise, house work (including making healthier meals!), piano/violin practice, walking the dogs, journaling, and all the things that go along with Evoke Images work. (whew!)

Things I need to work in to my weekly schedule: Date night, letter writing and correspondence, volunteering at the nursing home (something I have wanted to do for soooo long!), and spending time with my siblings and nieces & nephew.

Balance is difficult. *sigh*

I WILL find it though. I have to! My goal is to live a life of purpose, and in order to keep pursuing the purpose in my life there must be defining lines drawn and boundaries set. Any tips or advice about implementing a solid daily schedule into my life would be greatly loved… I might even kiss you.

In other news….

I have once again fallen into addiction to push-pops! Not those orange Flinstone ones that they’ve had for years…. the ones in the plastic tubes! (You know, the popsicles that give you the little cuts on the corners of your mouth?) I still won’t eat the grape, but I can’t get enough green and red!

Yeah, I love them again. Plastic cuts on the sides of my mouth and all.

Maybe it’s the summer…

2 comments

admin - September 1, 2010 - 4:44 AM

Good call! I am going to try to get the priorities finished first, instead of procrastinating them until the end of the day…. I never really thought of that as being a problem, but you are totally right!

You know, one of the best things we ever did was disconnecting our satellite 4 months ago. TV was such a time-sucker for us!

Kelley - August 31, 2010 - 2:04 AM

Weed, weed, weed out the time thieves. Set your alarm to rise an hour earlier. Achieve the highest priorities right off the bat. Go to bed– be in bed– by 9:30 pm. Some of your date nights can occur there. Hubby will wear a perpetual smile and you’ll both be well rested to take on the next day. ~ Kell

Samantha & Rick | Evoke Images

August 28, 2010 Posted in Couples / Ever After

Love, how often I loved you without seeing – without remembering you….

Not recognizing your glance, not knowing you….

Or maybe I saw you, imagined you lifting a wineglass by the light of the summer’s moon…..

I loved you without knowing I did….. I searched to remember you…..

And, suddenly….

…when you were there with me

I touched you… and my life stopped!

You took dominion like a queen….

like a wildfire in the forest….

Love, how often I loved you without seeing —

without remembering you —

not recognizing your glance, not knowing you, a gentian

in the wrong place, scorching in the hot noon,

but I loved only the smell of the wheat.

Or maybe I saw you, imagined you lifting a wineglass

in Angol, by the light of the summer’s moon;

or were you the waist of that guitar I strummed

in the shadows, the one that rang like an impetuous sea?

I loved you without knowing I did; I searched to remember you.

I broke into houses to steal your likeness,

though I already knew what you were like. And, suddenly,

when you were there with me I touched you, and my life

stopped: you stood before me, you took dominion like a queen:

like a wildfire in the forest, and the flame is your dominion.

~ Pablo Neruda

To view a slideshow with more images from Samantha & Rick’s Engagement Session, click here

no comments

Packing, Hulu, and Time Well-Wasted

August 21, 2010 Posted in Personal

Wheweee! I’m not going to lie, I can make those two guys and their truck look like amateurs. I’ve been helping my momma pack this week and let me tell you…. I am a box-taping, somewhat-bossy, Sharpie-wielding, packing fool.

And as stimulating as all of this is to my obsessive compulsive freak-organizing side… I am so glad we got today to rest before the yard sale tomorrow!

Adam is on the shooting range at a Backstoppers event all day, which means I have time all to myself. So, I took the rest of the day today to do whatever I want. Honey, it’s been grand! I have filled my Friday with glasses of milk and powdered donuts, perusing my blogroll, wrapped in my green down comforter, catching up on my shows through Hulu, and getting lots of doggie-time in with the doggies. Got my Cherry Coke Zero… I am in hog heaven.

Some of the things I lazily came across today:

• Jasmine Star and her brand new website… (whom I got to meet at the St. Louis Shot Party Wednesday, but that is a story for another day

• I am going to attempt these cookies next week. nom nom nom

• Really liking the designs by Julie Green at Up Up Creative. Especially these. They are fuzzy and warm and I want to hug them.

• So enjoyed this article by coco+kelley on this interior designer. I wonder if he would come to St. Louis to re-design my great room? I wonder if I would have to sell my eggs? lol

• The first time I saw this, it put the biggest smile on my face. I think I could smile every time I see it! Lucy Snowe creates simple and gorgeous portraits and artwork.

• A wood type table? Yesh please!

• Books are my things… even in this form. What a neat diy craft or gift… Found on MaryJanes and Galoshes via One Pretty Thing

A cheery quote to close this entry: Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering. ~Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne

Hope you all have wonderful weekend….Give away some of your love!

Maranda =)

no comments

Tyler & Bethanie Ever After | Destination Photography

August 14, 2010 Posted in Couples / Ever After

She walks in Beauty…

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow’d to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Congratulations to Tyler & Bethanie, I loved every moment of your Wedding Day and am so glad to have met you both. Your love has inspired me and I am forever grateful.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She Walks In Beauty

by George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)

Composed June, 1814

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

To see images from Tyler & Bethanie’s Wedding Ceremony click here

3 comments