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Entries in family (79)

Sunday
May082011

To Mama With Love

This year, your Mother's Day gift could change the world.

no, really.

To Mama With Love is a collaborative online art project that honors moms across the globe and raises funds to invest in remarkable women who are transforming the world. Participants create heartspaces that include words, videos, photos & investments in honor of mamas they love. 

This year, the funds raised will be invested to expand the efforts of four extraordinary women who are building schools in Tanzania, providing education and loving care for local children in Nepal, and running shelters for women in Afghanistan. People from all over the world have already joined the love bomb movement and shared their heartfelt love for their mother, wife, sister or friend.

So today let's celebrate motherhood. Share with us the stories and images of the women who inspire us to be brave, to be playful, to love fiercely, and whose support continuously reminds us that we are strong and capable even under the most difficult circumstances. And if you're so moved, show a mama your love and change the world!

Also, a group of talented women photographers have graciously donated original prints to benefit the To Mama With Love 2011 campaign. If you're still looking for a unique and meaningful Mother's Day gift, please consider purchasing one of the beautiful prints in the store. 100% of all profits from print sales will be invested in the dreams of these four inspirational women changemakers who create hope in our world.

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Friday
Mar182011

hero

 

Meet Jeremy ~ AKA Jer.

Jer is sixteen. He's incredibly smart, has received countless academic awards, he loves his vids, his iPad, movies and UFC.  He's a guys guy. He's super funny. He can pull a quick joke or a sarcastic line out of his hat in an instant. He says things you would never think of.  Jeremy truly is the BEST.

And, he's our HERO. Actually, let me expand...... He's our Super Hero.... 

Jeremy is my nephew.  He's 16.  He lives with a genetic illness known as SMA - Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He is confined to his wheelchair. He has limited hand/arm mobility.

I asked 'my boys' individually to describe Jer in one word.  The first word both Brett and Bryce came up with.... instantly...was RESILIENT.  And that is just so true.  (Definition: able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions)

That's our Jer..... and here's a few more words that came to us:

  • brave
  • inspirational
  • smart (bordering on genuis)
  • cool...as in Cool Cat....smooth...all that
  • determined
  • amazing

As I prepared this post I hopped over to the SMA Canada site. My brother founded the organization in 2000 after Jer was diagnosed. It occurred to me.... there is more than one Hero in this story. Jeremy's parents are the truest of true heroes and they have raised a  Super Hero.

We would love to meet your hero. Please share with us. Let's celebrate heroes today. 

Here's to you Jer... and to all our Super Heroes ... love and gratitude....

p.s. If you have not heard of SMA, I encourage you to follow this link to learn more. And if you have just a few moments, check out this incredibly touching video.  

Saturday
Mar122011

Waiting

These days it seems like my life is on hold, while the world keeps spinning around me. For 8 months I have been keenly focused on getting to the finish line with a healthy baby. My day to day activities tend to be foggy lately, but I am always fully aware of this tiny person growing inside me. I know that our whole life is going to change and I am feeling very ready for the transition into motherhood. We are overjoyed to add a new member to our family.

But all I can do is wait...and wonder. Boy or girl? When will the baby decide to come? What will he or she look like? In any case, my camera will be ready to capture this time in our lives and the new addition to our family.

Are you waiting for anything these days?

Thursday
Mar102011

distraction

We've got a new baby in the house. Totally unplanned. Totally unexpected. And yet, here he is.

As I was thinking about how to express all the things that we are dealing with on a daily basis around here, I just kept thinking of the word distraction. He is quite a distraction on a number of levels. Looking up the word for it's literal meaning led me to perhaps my new most favorite list of words ever.

The definition was far less interesting than the synonyms.

Ready?

Bafflement, bamboozlement, befuddlement, bemusement, bewilderedness, bewilderment, confusedness, discombobulation, confusion, fog, head-scratching, muddle, mystification, perplexity, puzzlement, tangle, whirl.

Absolutely YES to all of the above. This puppy is officially a distraction.

Can you relate? Show us something that distracting you right now. Chances are it's as much as a muse as a distraction.

Saturday
Jan152011

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

taken with iphone on instagram using nashville filter

Since the birth of my daughter, my life has changed significantly, and so I've had to make some adjustments to my photo taking habits as well. The bulky SLR has been put away until I go back to shooting professional assignments, the SX70 (and it's convenient flat design) found its place inside the diaper bag, and my trusty iphone became my camera of choice! I spend most of my days now shooting the trivial, celebrating my baby's expressions, our home, how the light changes in every room of the house throughout the day, and even my silly face! I do it a lot. All day actually! It's easy and it's fun. There is no editing, no cropping, no raw images clogging my disk space, and (god forbid!) no retouching. Who has time for that? Iphoneography is completely effortless... Yet, those special moments can still be captured all the same.

Gosh! Will phones ever replace cameras? Absolutely not. We love cameras of all kinds and shapes way too much! But do we need expensive, fancy or hip cameras to take good photos? No more, sisters, no more. Shooting is indeed a lot less about technical process and a lot more about shooting constantly and training our eye to capture the beauty we see. When we shoot from that perspective, we can pick up any piece of equipment and make magic. And as it turns out, that magic can happen even with the help of a tiny little device that fits in our back pocket!

Any other iphoneography enthusiasts out there? If you are an iphone geek like me, you must check out Instagram! This little app is revolutionizing the way we take pictures! It combines the photo community aspect of Flickr, one click filters for post processing, and Twitter chatter. The community is quite supportive as well and you can automatically post your images to flickr, twitter, facebook, posterous and tumblr too! If you want to check it out and look me up, I'm @alessandracave. I'd love to follow your photo taking journey that way.

So tell me... Would you share with us the best of your phone pics with us today?

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