Julia’s Blogfest

Just when I feel frustrated living in this town — the politics, the changes, the weather, the politics (did I already say that?), I find something that renews my love for my hometown — the beautiful downtown area.

Yesterday I spent a good hour or more with one of my hottie May couples, Thomas and Stephanie, up by the Capitol. I was lucky to not have been kicked off the grounds for snapping photos — one of the reasons I rarely accept doing ‘monument’ shoots. Unfortunately, the Park Service requires permits for professional photography OR we can just push our luck and hope for the best, which is what I did yesterday and I’m thankful I did this. Aside from an overcast sky, the cherry blossoms were in full force this weekend and of course that meant insane traffic and crowds. But it also meant wonderful imagery. My wonderful husband was gracious enough to drive me and the boys downtown, dropped me off near the Capitol, then killed an hour or so of time with the boys so I could do this before coming back to get me.

I had a hard time narrowing down these shots b/c I rarely get downtown so I’m just excited to have a variety!

This cracks me up — my beautiful cousin, who lives in Australia, is in a McCafe commercial — which is McDonald’s new boutique coffee shop (I guess?). She’s the one drinking the coffee with a very happy expression on her face! She certainly makes it look yummy!

Ben and Cameron are getting hitched in early May — one week after graduating from James Madison University! How ambitious are they?! I love it. Their wedding will be at the fantabulous Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA — gorgeous setting and I’m happy it’ll be in full bloom then. What joy for photos!

We did their engagement session during their spring break in early March — luckily we had a good day as there were many cold, snowy, gray days that week. We were at the historic Grist Mill in Alexandria – one of my favorite historic spots around here. I love Alexandria for all the great locales for shoots! They are cutie-patooties and I look forward to their big day.

Today is Good Friday. One of the most sacred and sad days in the Church when Christ was crucified. I took my boys into my church for a bit during the 3 hour prayer vigil, which represents the 3 hours He was agonizing on the cross – between 12 and the hour of his death at 3pm. It was beautiful being in the church today — quite moving in fact. Every 30 minutes one of the priests read the 7 last words of Christ with it ending on “unto your hands I commend my spirit.” How powerful those words are. We didn’t stay for the entirety but I took the kids for 2 readings — at 130 and again at 3pm.

But my point here is to mention that Lent is supposed to bring about reflection on many things — but one specifically is almsgiving — the giving to the needy. Everyday I am thankful for my health, my kids, my husband, my mom and my family. I have a good life. I have a great balance of everything perfect — health, spirituality, finances, home, friends, work and love. As I approach 40 in about 6 months I think to myself I have never had it better. What can I do to make it even better that is as fulfilling? Easy — GIVE. Giving what others don’t have is one little way I think helps me feel I am doing my part on this plane of existence to make a difference. Consequently, the LENTEN lesson today for my 7 1/2 year old, who is starting to be old enough to understand all this was to pick a charity for which our family could give a lump sum of $ to give to before Easter when Lent ends. We gave him 4 options — ones I think of that have personal meaning or are just top-of-mind important:

1.Parkinson’s Disease Association (my father passed of this horrible disease in 1997)
2.American Cancer Society (my father in law passed of melanoma 3 years ago)
3.St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (we do give to them at Christmas time)
4. Food for the Poor

Proudly, he was conflicted and wanted to give to 2, then added a 3rd once we explained what each charity strives to do. Ultimately, Food for the Poor will get the donation this year. It’s hard to pick and there’s a great website that helps you determine what makes the most sense for you to give called Charity Navigator

Also, as a CCD student, all the kids were given a little box to collect loose coins throughout Lent — much like what we did as youngsters trick-or-treating taking our little UNICEF boxes along. So we did manage to collect around $15 in coins for the past 6 weeks. Not a lot but something — hard to carry coins in a DEBIT world! So Operation Rice Bowl will also get a little money.

Finally, I did post something about another charity, Plan USA, about a year ago (click here) — whereby one can contribute monthly to sponsor a child in a developing country who is in desperate need of food, housing, education. We’ve been doing this for almost 9 years and it’s wonderful to get letters periodically updating us on the progress of our sponsor child. It does work.

Anyway, thanks for reading and Happy Easter!

Now that I know how to post slideshows, here is one from a shoot last fall. These boys are scrumptious — they are the same ages as my own so I love working with this family as I really relate to these smoochey boys. This is the 3rd shoot I have done with them in less than 2 years and it’s so fun to see them grow.