A Feeling of Gratitude

I used to not think so much about Thanksgiving. When I was little, the day was usually spent at my grandparents' house, eating turkey, hanging out with my brother and cousins, watching tv, and listening to my relatives talk and talk and talk the day away, mostly in a language that I did not yet understand. I remember my brother, my cousins and I often ate separately back then, at the kiddie table. While the day was enjoyable, I didn't really see what was the big deal. To me, it was a day with David and the girls, lots of food, and listening to my family carry on in Spanish -- pretty much like any other day while I was growing up.

When my grandmother passed away, the tradition changed a bit and Thanksgiving festivities moved to my aunt's house. I was 15, and hadn't been at the kiddie table for some time by then. As the years went by, we celebrated with all the traditional foods, board games, good conversation and more relatives as our family grew. Still very much enjoyed everything, but missed out on the gratitude aspect of the day.

Now that I'm older with a family of my own, Thanksgiving now has a special significance all its own. With some of the life experiences -- and losses -- my family has had, gratitude and thankfulness take on a whole new meaning. I look back on those Thanksgivings during my childhood and teenage years, and those same holidays in more recent years, and realize how thankful I am for many things. Thankful for having been part of a loving family and to have those special memories of those times with my relatives. Thankful for my husband, our three children AND our puppy, who bring much joy and laughter to my life everyday. Thankful for my family and friends, and the love, companionship and support they give me. Thankful for the art of photography and the incredible sense of satisfaction I get from making someone smile with my pictures. Most certainly, I have much for which to be thankful in my life!

In reflecting on Thanksgiving, I looked back at a post I wrote a year ago. Certain words from that time bear repeating today, so here goes ... "I used to not really think about all these things on Thanksgiving, or sometimes not much at all, for that matter. Just trying to keep up with the daily grind would have me so busy that I might take some of these things for granted or at least just not stop long enough to consider it all. But years have taught me to reflect and enjoy the good in my life, and today, this holds particularly true. And for that, I am grateful."

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with good food, family -- all the things you love and for which, you too are grateful. -- S

‎"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for... tomorrow." -- Melody Beattie.

Holiday Photos With The B Family

You know, Sylvia is not a super common name. And where I live, there aren't that many of us around. But I found one! Thanks to Marisa and Stuart, a family I recently photographed, I met Sylvia, Rolf, and their two kids, Erik and Marlena. A few weeks ago, we met at Old Settler's Park to take some holiday pics.

Before our session, I asked Sylvia what kinds of activities the kids were into, mostly because I like to capture some elements of their personalities in my photos. Erik is a football player, so I wanted to take some sports pics of him. Marlena, on the other hand, has been in dance almost her entire life. So I asked her to bring her toe shoes. Brother and sister, a jock and a ballerina ... total opposites in what they do, have different tastes in music ... yet I sensed that they are close. Love the images of them, but I also like the images of Sylvia and Rolf smiling at each other, and Marlena and her mom walking in the park together, totally in a girl moment. Capturing those kind of moments make my job so fun!

Sylvia, Rolf, Erik and Marlena -- thank you for a great photo session and for the opportunity to document your family for the holidays. I hope that I can photograph you guys some time again!

All the best! -- S

Holiday Photos With The O Family

Looks like another family on the photo blog today ... check out the pics from my holiday photo session with the O Family.

Laura and Bob have been married for 15 years, and have three beautiful daughters. The family was so wonderful to photograph, and really, I could have stayed even longer than our time together to take more pictures of R, K and C. And I already took more than I normally do. AND I had a hard time picking my favorites. Yes, I love what I do!!

Laura, Bob, R, K and C -- thank you so much for the opportunity to capture these images of you. I so enjoyed getting to know you all. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

All the best! -- S

Guest Blog From The Dog: Sasha Says -- #4

Hey -- remember me? It's time for another blog post from Sasha Says!! How am I doing? Absolutely great! I'm almost five months old now, and I weigh ... well, we don't know exactly, but my mom says when she picks me up it feels about the same as her 8 pound weights, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I love hanging out, being outside, getting into stuff, and playing with EVERYONE! Take a look at these pics and you'll see what I mean!

Recently, I get to hang out at The Domain with Mom and her friend Christine. They took me to Starbucks (can't believe they kicked me out just because I had a little bark going on. Sheesh!), and California Pizza Kitchen. So many people said hello and petted me, and there were a lot of dogs that I got to hang with. Can't wait to go back there!

Halloween was fun too. I got not one, not two, but THREE costumes this year! Yeah, Mom likes Halloween a lot! My favorite? Well, we have preteens in the house, so what else? A VAMPIRE! And I've got the fangs for it too!

Gots to go, peeps! Have an awesome weekend!

Paws and peace out! -- Sasha


Hanging at The Domain. Check out Christine's awesome boots! Mommy likes them too! :)

Hey, there's a dog smaller than me?? Suddenly I want to say "yo quiero Taco Bell!"

So, this is me in front of California Pizza Kitchen, one of the restaurants in The Domain that is pup friendly. Yay me!

Me with my "Little Miss Scary" outfit on.

So tired after The Domain ...

There's mom with that Canon thing again .... aaagghhh!

It's Halloween, and I'm a VAMPIRE!! I'm out for blood!

... or a belly rub will do nicely too! :)

Holiday Photos with J&B

Last weekend, I held mini photo sessions at Old Settler's Park in Round Rock. It was a good opportunity for families to get their pictures done for the holidays! My new friend Beth and her family participated in the sessions, and I had fun getting to know them all.

Just from the short time we spent together, I could tell that their son, J, is a good hearted young man, and he was very cooperative with me for our photo shoot. Miss B, his younger sister, is quite the little lady. Once we got past a bit of initial shyness, she opened up a bit more, and I was able to capture some pics of her that I really love. Here are my favorite photos from our day.

Thanks so much guys! Happy Thursday! -- S

A Photo Session With Chris

You might have seen him here before. He may look like a familiar face to you. And the name? You're probably thinking "oh, Sylvia took pics of her son again." But while yes, a familiar face here on the blog, this Chris is not mine. He is the bass guitarist in Annie and Kate's band, Chaotic Ei8ht. He and my son look a lot alike, have the same name, and both play baseball. But I can assure you, this Chris plays the bass A LOT better than my son can. haha!

Chaotic Ei8ht has been together for about a year now, and I have seen Chris grow and mature into an awesome young man and a talented musician. I was so happy when his mom Paula contacted me to take some pictures of him with his bass guitar. These are my favorite photos from our session.

Chris and Paula -- thank you both for a great photo shoot! All the best! -- S

November Photog Phrendz Photo Session

I've had a lot of holiday photo sessions lately. But I did not want to miss this event! My photog friends Tina and Holly hosted another Photog Phrendz photo shoot this weekend, and I had the opportunity to photograph this fun mom, dad and the cutest little lady! Here are the photos from their session.

Thanks again to Tina and Holly for putting this together! Peace and shutter clicks to you both!

-- S

Fun Photos From Ghoulwill Ball

Last Friday evening, I helped photograph the annual Ghoulwill Ball at The Driskill Hotel in Austin. The band was awesome, the people were fun, and everyone seem to have a great time. The theme was "80's Resurrected", and there were a LOT of great costumes! Still working on editing pictures, but here are some of my favorites so far.

Have a great Tuesday! -- S











♫ Oh, I heard it through the grapevine .... ♫ haha

Party on, Wayne! Party on, Garth! Excellent!


This was a fun bunch!


Who remembers hair like this? Anyone?? There sure was a lot of Aqua Net here that night!


Love photographing musicians! Who knew The Joker could jam out like this??


And The Boy Wonder too!







Dancing and singing along to Prince's "Kiss".


You go Tiger!

And my favorite pic from that evening ... ta da!!

A pic of me and my friend Michelle, taken with my little iPhone. We had a great time! :)