Friday, January 16, 2009

My beloved "Mama"

This past New Years Eve, I lost the only grandmother that I have ever really known. My father's mother died when I was in second grade so I don't really remember her. My "Mama" was incredible and she and I were extremely close. The last few years of her life were spent in bed, not knowing who we were, but we never forgot who she was. Since I am the oldest grandchild, I was given the responsibility of of representing the family with some words about her. This was very hard to do, but I made it through. Even though, none of you knew her , I wanted to share with you the words that I shared at her funeral. She was truly an example for us all and I want the world to know this. I love you Mama and I hope to see you again one day...........


Today has truly been a long time coming. 99 years to be exact...and while we were thinking that Mama could make it to 100, the Lord had other plans. He must have felt that he had too few angels that could critique Tiger Wood’s swing and make the best homemade bread in the world all at the same time. While we all have our own fond memories of Mama (I call her Mama, some called her Mother, some called her Nana and some called her Mrs. Goodwin), the one thing that we all have in common is that we were loved unconditionally by her. Mama loved us all with her whole heart and soul and we never wondered how she felt about us. Not only would she tell us how she felt about us, she showed us all in so many ways. Mama was a shining example of how we all should love each other...Unconditionally. One of the proudest parts of Mama’s life was her family. If you looked up the definition of “perfect grandmother” or “perfect mother” in the dictionary, there would most likely be a picture of Mama. Whether it was talking about “girly stuff” with Martha Hunter, Molly, or Camp or talking sports with Hunter, Matthew, Peter or me...Mama could do it all without missing a step. She was always eager to hear about what was going on in our lives and we always knew that if we were having a hard time with anything, we could always talk to Mama. If we were sad, she would wrap her arms around us and tell us that everything would be fine and would always give us guidance. The other thing that we all knew was that if we were acting up, we need an extra 3 feet of running room to get away from the yard stick that Mama kept around for such an occasion. For some of us, this was never an issue, but for the rest of us, we made sure to wear our “fast shoes” when we stayed with Mama! Honestly though, Mama adored us all and we always looked forward to seeing her. She was also so proud of her children Bill and Patricia. She was always eager to tell everyone of her children’s accomplishments and about how proud she was of them. More than telling how proud she was, she showed how proud she was. She would light up when her family was together for holidays and special occasions and was always eager to hear about everything that was going on in our lives. Lastly, Mama adored her husband. Mama & Pop were the perfect example of how a married couple should be. We should all aspire to live by their example. They complimented each other and were each other’s other half. They were each 50% of a perfect 100% equation. They cared for each other so deeply that when Pop went to be with the Lord, Mama felt as if she lost half of herself. Sure, she stilled loved us all the same, but she has always been longing for the love her life. Well, Mama is complete again. She is with Pop walking through heaven, looking down on us all, and loving us in the same unconditional fashion that we have known for so many years.

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Happy New Year

OK...I know that I said that I would be posting things here more often, but the truth is my life has been a zoo for the last month. The holidays happened, my 99 year old grandmother died New Years Eve, and school started back. Plus, I'm in the middle of changing all of my marketing stuff. Wish there were more hours in the day!! Anyhow, I really do hope to get back to a more active blog life. Maybe, I'll start talking about stuff that I think is cool. Maybe, I'll talk about American Idol. Maybe, I'll talk about my awesome friends and my two boys. Maybe, I'll talk about business. Hey...I've got an idea....How about I talk about it all. One of my New Years resolutions is to get back to the old me. I've had tons of crap happen to me over the last several months and I'm tired of using it as an excuse to not be me. I'm sure that some of you are tired of it as well. Life is too short to not get something great out of each day. Sometimes, its hard to see it, but we can always find something good out of every day.  So here is my promise to you... I WILL POST SOMETHING EVERY DAY!!! You may dig it...You might not. Either way...its time to get back to being me.
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Monday, December 15, 2008

Feeling like reflecting

Good Morning Friends,
Been a little bit since my last post, but things have actually been really busy. During the holiday season, I always seem to find myself looking back on the past year and summing up whether it was a good year or a not so good year. Either way, hopefully I learned something from it and can apply what I have learned to the next year. In my business life, this past year has been alot of things. Its been exciting, humbling, fun, enlightening. I love the business that I'm in and I can't wait for my business to develop into the business of my dreams, but with the state of the economy, we have all had to make changes in our business models to role with the punches. For some, its been easier, but for me its been humbling. I have had to take a step back and look at how I do things. Its easy sometimes to get over confident, but its also just as easy for you to get knocked down. One day its great....the next day....not so great. I see friends in other lines of work that appear to have everything going right, but the reality is that they are dying inside. I guess the thing that I have learned from this is that I really need to keep things in perspective. I can't beat myself up over things that I have no control over and I'm gonna make mistakes. Thats life. Everything happens for a reason.

In my personal life, the year has been equally humbling. I'm usually pretty private about my personal life and I don't see that changing much, but I will say that I have had the wind knocked out of me a little. I'm not going to go into detail, but you can read between the lines if you like. This rough time in my life has caused much pain, but has also enabled me to find the answers to many questions that I have had over the years. And that has been incredible!! I'm a true believer that through tough times, you are able to see things clearer and you can discover what is truly important. You also discover that no matter how bad things get, there are people that love you and have your back. These are the treasures of life and its so important to make sure that these treasures know how important they are. I'm sure that the year to come will be full of challenges, but its good to know that I have the support to weather the storm. I'm such a blessed guy to have what I have. I have great friends, two wonderful sons, and a wonderful family. But the most important thing that I have is unconditional love from those closest to me. That pumps me up....That sustains me!
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Land Family





Hey Folks...Been a long time! Hopefully, it won't be so long next time. I recently had the pleasure of shooting a family portrait session with my best friend Geoffrey and his awesome family! I love these guys very much and its always fun to hang with them and take pictures. They were one of my first clients when I started my company a couple of years ago and I look forward to shooting them alot more. Here are some of my favorite images from the day. Enjoy!!


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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I've been KISSED!!!


Hey Folks,

I just got my first KISS Wedding Book in and I have to say that it ROCKS!!! I ordered it for Mari & Jeff and we chose this sexy green leather to go along with their color scheme. I can't say enough good things about KISS. They are the best in every way and I can't wait until I order Kari & Jonathan's album. As I have said before, KISS has the best customer service, the coolest books and the greatest staff in the biz. Kevin Swan and crew will stop at nothing to help their customers and I'm proud to call them a vendor. I love these books so much that I have made them my standard offering for all of my packages! Here are a few pics that I took before I deliver the album to Mari & Jeff. Enjoy!!