The Beauty Beyond

Part of the thing I love about photography is showing seemingly ordinary things in a beautiful way. At first, these things that may not seem all that special to the naked eye, but set in a different light, can become something more. And when you couple those photos with a meaningful story, then it can turn into something extraordinarily beautiful.

Last week, I took a picture of a peacock at Mayfield Park. Sure, it's beautiful all its own. But digital files can be kind of flat, and they don't always convey the colors that are really there, or in this case, show the bird's elegant long feathers in the best possible way. I didn't like the picture at first, and almost threw it out in my edits (photographers are supposed to edit ruthlessly, you know)! But at a second glance, I saw potential in this one, and remembered the rush feeling I got when this bird jumped up on the fence and I saw a good frame in which to capture the shot. After a few quick edits, I think I was able to better capture and show the peacock's quiet and beautiful elegance.

Here are a few more things I shot over the past week in which, I think, I was able to see the beauty beyond, IMHO (as my daughters would say). Well, at least I like these pictures anyway! :)

Have a good rest of the week! -- S




This past weekend, I volunteered some time for a charity benefit, a glam session benefiting the women at La Tienda co-op. Here were a few detail shots I took of the wonderful make-up artist's things.



This is a fabric rose that belonged to my mother, that she wore in her hair one night at a party. I have it pinned to a wrought iron dress form I have up in my studio. Makes me feel closer to her to have her things around me. :)

This was also something my mother gave me, and it is deeply personal and dear to me. It's another studio decor item, and sits in front of the dress form on a work table. Nothing really special about where it's placed, but one night I took this shot and edited it for mood in such a way that I thought was really beautiful.

Band(s) on the Run

If you're at work, quick .... turn down the volume on your computer! A mini concert is upon you! ha! ha! ...

As the new year is coming along, so are my kids in their musical endeavors. More specifically, my daughters in their new bands! Yes, that's right .... bandS ... as in plural. My girls are now in two bands: Speed Limit 180 and The Flameriders. In the second band, there are six kids -- four girls, two guys, all fifth graders. In this band, they've switched gears, with Annemarie on keyboards and Kate on vocals and hopefully soon to be on drums. They've started rehearsal sessions and are rockin' along well. They sound great!

In their first band, they're all practicing, and getting ready for several upcoming performances. They're adding some new, awesome songs to their playlist too.

Check out Speed Limit 180's latest slideshow! (Sorry -- couldn't figure out how to get the video controls to show up here.) Have a rockin' day! -- S

A Moment of Free Time

This week has gone by quickly, but for us, there's something new. With our new after school schedule, we actually get to enjoy not just one, but TWO days of not having to be anywhere immediately after school ends. How cool is that?! What to do with our newfound freedom? We went out by a Round Rock park -- the kids ran around a little, and I snapped a few because, well, I missed my camera and I felt like it ... I'm just sayin'. :)

I love afternoons like this. No place in particular to go. Just a little relaxation time with the kids and just letting them be, and capturing them in their element.

Jon was traveling this week and texted me while he was out in San Diego, at Croce's Restaurant. (Yeah, I was jealous .... I wanna go too!!) But it made me think of Jim Croce's music, and that song 'Time in a Bottle.' I wish I could save afternoons like this away and go back to them again and again. But I guess that's what the pictures are for, right?

Here are my kids this week, enjoying their chillin' time. Have a great weekend.

-- S


"If I could spend time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day 'til eternity passes away just to spend them with you. " -- Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce

A Random Rant

You know those get to know you quizzes that was all the rage on facebook for a while? I think they've all been replaced with all the games everyone's playing ... FarmVille, Mafia Wars and the endless zombie and vampire games that seems to have really taken over. Sure the quizzes were a little childish, but I kind of miss them. You got to reconnect with all your friends and find out all the little random things they were willing to share about themselves. The things that made you say "oh, I didn't know that about you" and made you think or maybe even made you laugh. So, since one of my goals here on my blog is for you to get to know me, I thought I'd share some 'randoms' about me too.

1. I mostly drink red wine when I'm out socially, but I also really like Crown & 7 with lime. When I worked as a waitress, I worked with a bartender that introduced me to this drink, and it's been a favorite since.
2. I love many types of flowers, but sunflowers are my favorite. I love how big, bright and cheery they are. They always make me smile.
3. While I love my family and friends and am generally an affectionate person, I know that I also enjoy a certain amount of freedom and solitude. Time to myself, even if just for a little while, is pretty important to me.
4. I am a girly girl. Love all the typical girl things, like lip gloss, perfume, shoes, purses, jewelry. Ulta really is girl heaven!
5. I have been married for 16 years. Jon and I had what I call the world's longest engagement -- five years! And I got my engagement ring, not on Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, or even Valentine's, but when? On Opening Day of baseball season! Such a romantic ...
   
6. I would be amiss if I left out an obvious thing about me and something I'm known for -- my love for Starbucks. Yes, the rumors are true .... I really do get a venti drink of some kind every day. I'll even admit it -- I have my own button on the register at the Starbucks nearest my house. I believe they call it the Sylvia Special. That's really bad, I know.
7. I'm pretty much a crafty person, downright Martha Stewart like even. Now I only crochet sometimes ... it's something I've always done. I have friends and family waiting for me to start projects for them. No pressure -- right, guys? It's gonna be a while.
8. I love being able to call a friend with whom I haven't spoken in a while, and just pick up where we left off.
9. Of my three children, Annemarie is most like me. Not only in appearance, but artistically she's my girl through and through. My mini -me, is what I called her.
10. The biggest surprise of my life was finding out I was having twins. As in ... (nervous laugh) ..."I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly ... did you just say ... twins???" (Thunk! Jaw drop to floor).
11. I've had several important losses in my life, including a baby, my mother and two relatives that died young and unexpectedly. From these losses, I've come to look at life a lot differently. Kind of a carpe diem kind of thing. The losses don't leave you, but turning them into a positive thing as best you can was a huge life lesson for me. I'd like to think that's made me into a better person.
12. When I was a kid, I studied dance -- ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics and baton. I loved tap, and I still have my baton. Twirling it in the same pattern over and over again is something I still do when I'm trying to concentrate.
    
13. I preferred The Addams Family over the The Munsters. Morticia's dress was better than Lily's, don't you think?
14. In my previous life, I worked in human resources. Started out in recruiting and employment and was involved in hiring people in a wide variety of jobs, from mortuary assistants, service/maintenance staff, clerical, business analysts, customer service reps, graphic designers, computer/systems technicians, and tax attorneys. The weirdest one? A psychiatric technician studying the sexual habits of pigs. Ewww.
15. I'm a Star Trek fan. That's my big brother's fault ... made me watch it when we were kids, and now I follow it more than he does. Live long and prosper!
    
16. I usually have coffee and a biscotti for breakfast, but my favorite breakfast is french toast and sausage. YUM!
17. I have a really keen sense of hearing. I mean, seriously, I could have been the original bionic woman. Jaime Sommers has nothing on me.
    
18. On the other hand, I have a pretty poor sense of smell. It takes a long time for that to kick in. Except dirty diapers ... that I got right away!
19. I love my daughter Kate's voice. She used to surprise me with her big voice in her little girl body. Now when she sings, she just rocks it. Makes me really proud.
20. I have special pet names for my kids. Annie is my Little Love Bug (because she's so affectionate and huggy); Kate is My Dear One (in reference to a favorite quote from a book that I always read to her as a toddler); and Chris is My Sunshine (a pun on the word 'son', and I still remember the moment of his first smile at me).
21. When I was a kid, I was scared to death of the movie The Exorcist. Linda Blair and split pea soup, to this day, still freak me out.
22. I was an avid reader as a child. Always had a book in hand, and I still always have something to read nearby. But my daughter Kate, takes reading to an entirely new level. There are authors that could not keep up with her.
23. I am Hispanic, but I don't speak Spanish. I studied it for many years in school, and can understand it fairly well, and can read and write it somewhat. But embarrasingly, yo no hablo espanol muy bien ... just can't think fast enough to get the words out correctly.
    
24. I really dislike ironing, and will avoid it at all costs!! My iron collects dust from barely being touched, and my ironing board is .... uh ... well, I don't know where. It's probably good that we live in Austin, where it's okay to look a little disheveled and the flip flop is the official shoe in town. Part of that whole "keep Austin weird" mentality.
25. I love the fact that my son Christopher has so many nicknames. He prefers Chris, but he also answers to Topher, Buddy, Dude and The Boy. His aunt calls him Ferky (don't ask)!
    
26. I love my camera and all my new lenses ... but somehow, I think you already knew that. :)

Whew! Okay, maybe a little TMI! ha! ha! Have a wonderful week!



And here's a random photo of me, taken today by my daughter Kate.

Guitar Girl

She finally got it ... one of her very own! Annemarie has been wanting an electric guitar for a while now. When she first started out with guitar lessons, she began on a half sized acoustic, maybe about two years ago. All three kids were taking lessons then. She soon moved up to a bigger one, but still not full sized. Quite honestly, lessons were not going all that well for them, and they all wanted to quit. Kate and Chris decided to stop, but Annie was encouraged by her then teacher to stick with it. She thought that Annemarie seemed to understand it more, and so she agreed to continue. Still, her efforts were half hearted. It wasn't until she got an opportunity to play guitar in a rock camp that that changed. Her new teacher loaned her his electric guitar, and then it was on! She fell in love with it! Since that time, she's moved on to more lessons, and eventually her performances with her band, Speed Limit 180, all the while using her 3/4 acoustic and borrowing her dad's electric guitar, and an amplifier that, shall we say, is less than rockin'. Wimpy, in fact. Now that she's fully embraced her role as a guitarist, she wanted a power guitar and an amp of her own.

This Christmas, her grandparents graciously gave her the funds to get her electric guitar. She was so happy to get to Guitar Center and pick it out herself! She found this sweet Jackson electric and really loved it. She's named it Bella -- yes, after Twilight (a fav book of hers) and after the Spanish meaning of the word 'beautiful.' She's also now happy to have moved on to Jon's Takamine acoustic guitar.

We also recently bought her a nice used amplifier to complete the deal. So my guitar girl is ready to rock! With her renewed sense of purpose and armed with her Bella and amp, now I can only hope she doesn't carry through on her threat to wake us up in the mornings with some major tuneage. Oh, and did I mention that Kate got a drum set too? I'm in trouble .....

Rock on, Annie B.! Love, Mom


"Girls with guitars,
Now everybody's rockin'
Girls with guitars,
There ought to be a song about
Girls with guitars,
There's just no stopping those
Girls with guitars. "
-- Girls With Guitars lyrics, written by Mary Chapin Carpenter


Here's my gorgeous guitar girl, with her Bella.






Yeah, she's happy!


But she won't be too happy when she sees this picture. (I can hear it now ..... "MOM?!?!?!?") I can't help it, she was just so darned cute!! Here she is at a birthday party, just about a month shy of turning four -- Round Rock -- 4.30.2003

A Special Birthday Wish

Maybe this is somewhat childish of me, but I believe that birthdays are meant to be celebrated. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about getting older as much as the next girl. In fact, when it's my birthday next month, I'll be the first one to say "yeah, I'm celebrating my sixteenth annual 29th birthday today." But I think that all birthdays are special ... it's a day just for you, hopefully filled with favorite foods, well wishes from your family and friends, and the things you love to do -- the things that make you unique -- and happy.

Today is the birthday of a special man in my life ... my dad! He's retired and in his 70's now, but stays young by traveling with my stepmom, enjoying his four kids and their families (including seven grandkids), visiting family and friends, and staying active at the YMCA and his bowling leagues. He may be a year older, but he's definitely still young at heart, and I love that about him.

Even though I'm told often that I look a lot like my mother, I am -- and always have been -- my father's daughter in many ways. My mom used to always say that my independent tendencies came from him, and that my laugh is just like my dad's sister (and given how much I love and respect my Aunt Stella, I consider this a compliment!). As I've mentioned in earlier posts, music has always been more important to me than tv .... again, this from him. And my love for baseball? Even though I'm the only girl and have never played it competitively, somehow his love of the game rubbed off on me too.

Dad -- here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday, from your favorite daughter! ha! ha! Have fun today! Bowl on, eat the rest of the holiday tamales, watch Jeopardy ... you know, all those favorite things you like to do! And know that I love you!

With love from your little girl,
S


"Celebrate today. It is important to honor our beginnings. It is important to remember that we matter and that we have a place in this world that no one else has." -- (a quote from a Hallmark card)


Me and my dad in the house in which I grew up in Houston -- Spring 1965.


Me and my dad at a family reunion this past summer in Cedar Park, TX. Photo taken by my cousin Edwin Palos -- July 4, 2009.

New Beginnings for New Year's

Today is January 1 ... the beginning of a new year. Time for some new resolutions and for my family, some new beginnings. Our 2009 was pretty good, but we're looking forward to some new and interesting changes for us ..... such as .....

• My husband Jon starts his new job in the next few weeks. He's so excited about it, and we believe it's a great opportunity that will allow him a good deal of professional growth and challenge. I could not be any happier for him!
  

• My daughters Annemarie and Kate are now ten and will be starting middle school this fall. I have no doubt that they will continue to do well academically. I'm really stoked about where things are going with their musical endeavors and their band Speed Limit 180. They're starting to get some local recognition and they're just having fun with it all. I'm so proud of my Guitar Girl Annie and my Keyboard Kate!

• My son Chris, now at 8 years old, has been improving in his reading and now the bookworm light bulb has gone off and he wants to read just about everything in sight. It's surprising to me some of the words he already knows. He's also already told me which baseball camps he wants to attend this year, and as much as I don't like this, he wants to play football this year. The mom in me is afraid he'll get hurt, but I know he really likes the game and would love playing.

• As for me, I'm looking forward to some new beginnings in my photography. My new year's resolutions? Quite simply ... grow professionally as a photographer. I want to continue to hone my craft, meet and network more with others in the industry, and to redesign a room in my home into a photography studio. It took me a while to finally take the plunge and start my business this year. It wasn't an easy step for me, feeling torn, like I should be totally there for my kids as a dedicated stay at home mom. But as they are getting older and more independent, I finally felt like it was time to do something I really loved for myself. With the help and support of my family and my photography mentors, I now feel very excited about what lies ahead.

In saying goodbye to 2009 and at the stroke of midnight, you always hear that song "should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?" My answer to that question would be no, I don't want to forget, but I'm ready for the changes in our lives and look forward to it with much anticipation. Happy New Year everyone!


"A brand new year will begin. Let's raise our hopes, in a confident toast, to the promise it ushers in." -- unknown



We spent New Year's Eve in Fort Worth in Historic Downtown area. This picture was taken in The Stockyards, by my sister-in-law Kathleen Swain. When I saw it, it made me think of us saying goodbye to 2009, and looking ahead to the new year.


No flash was allowed in this club, so this picture turned out grainy (I really need that high ISO Canon 7D!!! -- ha! ha!), but I like how the colors turned out. Happy 2010!