St. John's Riverkeeper

Recently I have had the privilege of doing a fun project for the St. John's Riverkeeper. Danielle and Kelly have become my newest friends because of their wonderfully contagious personalities and their dedication to teaching our community about the beautiful things we have right in our own back yards. As is common with any place you live, it is very easy to take advantage of all we have to see and do within a few minutes drive.

For example... As many times as I have been on Fort George Island, I always find more things to see just by walking on a different trail. When was the last time you visited Kingsley Plantation and just walked around the grounds or sat in the barn and wondered what life must have been like all those years ago when the plantation was a way of life?

It is on these quiet afternoons that I can walk and talk with my daughter or have a real uninterrupted conversation with God. Just to watch the contour of the beaches and the sheer magnificence of something so simple as an oyster bed reminds me of God's continuous art work in our world of busy...

So I challenge all you to take a drive some place you haven't been in a while- or perhaps you have never been- but take a walk and enjoy what you see. Take in the colors- the smells and the breeze of our beautiful Jacksonville. I sincerely enjoyed this adventure and look forward to future projects. Hope you enjoy! ~S.

Kezia and Sean.... Their Wedding Story

I am so happy to finally be sharing Kezia and Sean's wedding day with everyone! Their wedding was so simple but in the most moving and memorable way. They chose the most beautiful day in January whose sky was the most perfect shade of blue. Like any other wedding I prepare myself mentally as much as I can thinking of all the frames I want to watch for, ideas of things to try, family and friends names... hey, I know that is a long shot, but worth trying for anyway. I had an incredible team working with me to ensure that we had every angle covered- but what I wasn't prepared for was Sean. His heart is filled with so much love for Kezia and Tyler that he couldn't contain it all. He was so excited in every aspect of their day that one look at his emotions and I couldn't help but cry myself. It was simply touching to see how much love they have for each other. I want to say thank you again to Gwen and Beth for helping me out all day and thank you to Sean and Kezia for allowing me to share with you the most important day of your lives. I am happy to call you both friends and send many blessings to you and your new family. Much love~S.

Ayden's Adventure...

It is so funny how in your mind you set out to do a certain set of tasks- for me it listed like this: 1. Rake (rake, rake) 2. Edit 3. Work on website 4.Clean.. etc, you get the picture? What I actually accomplished: Uh. Nothing. Not one thing on my to-do list for the weekend... But it was a good weekend overall.. And what I am trying to learn (and apply) is that my chores will be waiting for me. There are no little elves waiting in the walls to step out and do them while we sleep. Hey, that isn't a bad thing to add to my dream board- A girl can dream right? Yesterday we took the kids on a river tour with the St. John's Riverkeeper that was really relaxing and enjoyable. It isn't often that I get to head out on the river. Odd I know since my hubby is a commercial fisherman... I will post those pics in the next few days.

Anyway so we decided to head off this morning in search of a new (new to us) truck for Geoff as his poor truck is on its last leg - and limping quite pitifully I might add. Anyway, one of my favorite lil sweet spots is where we were headed anyway and I have been wanting to take Ayden for a hand full of images. He loves planes- I should rephrase that. He loves anything with a big motor. In fact, we were watching the Gators win the championship the other night and a Dodge Truck commercial comes on. If you haven't seen it has these different types of guys, firemen, military, & cowboys driving the trucks through all sorts of obstacles including off road and fire. So as the truck beats around and the fire ascends upon the truck Ayden says (very excitedly), "Now THAT is a beautiful thing!" So I knew he would love the airplane graveyard. And I was right. He was facinated for about 5 min and then wanted to get into all of them and peek around... So at the end of the day although my chore list wasn't completed, I accomplished even more than I imagined I would. Enjoy. I am. Because in about a minute these moments will have passed me and I will be introducing images of his first day of college... Never pass the opportunity to do something that creates great memories. ~S.

A HUGE Thank You!

Just a quick note to say thank you so much to everyone who voted for me! Although I didn't win, it was a fun and challenging contest! So Thanks again and will have some fun stuff to post soon. ~S.

Go Quickly...

To Kelly Moore Photography and vote for ME! There is some really awesome competition so every vote counts! This is fun and I love the anticipation of it all!

Thanks for your Vote....
Steph

Be "Moore" Willing...

O.k. so this was a little difficult to do if you want the truth... More than actually taking a self portrait- setting up a tripod and angles and trying to put the timer on and run, get into a position you THINK will work- only to hold a smile for 10 seconds (or realize that your hair is IN your eye on second 8...) Run back and look at a blurry image of your nostrils... But Kelly Moore set up a challenge to shoot a self portrait. I believe the purpose was for us, the photographer, to feel what it is like on the other side of the camera. To actually have to live up to our constant commands of "smile, tilt, step over slightly, no, no, ok, right there, don't move... oh, I don't really like it. One more time- sorry." That is what I sound like anyway. It really was a lot harder than I thought it would have been. I thought I would set up and take a couple of quick pics- then 3 hours later.... I had to think (Yes, I do that on rare occasions...)about a lot of things really so this was a fun pair of shoes to wear for a bit.. Anyway, this is my self portrait montage- Hope you like them- personally, I hate images of myself.... but what the heck- it is the beginning of a new year and a new me. ~S.

Happy New Year!

Wow! Can anyone tell me where the blur we call 2008 went? I still can't believe that we have just started another new year... But I am the more excited about what lies ahead than any that I can remember in a very long time. So what are your resolutions this year? In the past I quit making resolutions so I wouldn't be disappointed with in a few weeks of forgetting what I started out so passionately about. I figured if I said I was going to do it than it had to be done- regardless of circumstances. Life has a funny way of happening doesn't it? So for some reason when I began thinking about what I wanted to do this year I saw it a little differently. Rather than viewing the beginning of the year as a "resolve" and demands sort of list- Molly and I decided to make a "Life Map" really more of a list of things we want to visualize for this year. I highly recommend you get a girlfriend and do this- or do it with your hubby- they are so much fun and really do allow you to focus on your dreams. It is also easier to pray over and seek favor with God on certain areas of your life.

For me a lot of it is tangible.. My business and equipment for my biz., our finances- a home of our own, a Saab (BI-WI... Because I'm Worth It!). But my real focus this year is to simply simplify my life. I want to rid my life of the clutter and unimportant things that tie me down. The first step was to find a loving home for our ferrets- I love pets like the next person (Gwen and Matt are not included in that phrase...no one loves their babies more than them.. I mean Gwen put hers in elf outfits for Christmas. That is some true love between them and the dogs. Probably more the dogs now that I think about it since they actually posed for the photo without doing something sneaky after wards.), but I quickly realized that I have enough to clean and chase after with my kids. Luckily for me a wonderful family has time and loves them more than me and gladly took them in as a playmate with their ferret... I want to get rid of those silly things that take my time like going to the grocery store more than once a week... anything unnecessary has to go-(Excluding the trips to Starbucks Beth... you knew that was coming didn't you?) even if it means I have to learn how to say that small two letter word, "no". That doesn't mean I want to rid my life of blessing others- but I have to be able to actually bless them. I want to help everyone and do all these things but then I am so tired and my to-do list is so long that when I show up I don't want to be there... So I will take on less and make it count more... I also want to make my kids and self count more... Oh, the list could go on- that is my problem... A friend of mine once told me that I am a "compulsive over-achiever". Ouch... but worse, he was right. So I am going to simplify my life. I don't have to conquer the world- only my to-do list today..... So what do you want this year? Would love to hear it... Oh, and this is my "Life as I See it!" ~S.