Happy twin Tuesday friends! It’s been a while since I blogged anything personal; although I am pretty sure that the images and the text of this post might not relate in the end, I am happy to be sharing bits and pieces of our lives with you. Lately most weekends I am off either on a shoot, a wedding or some other photo-related appointment. I have made it a priority to not book myself both Saturday and Sundays in order to have at least one day of the week with my dear husband since his work schedule is Monday-Friday. A photographer’s schedule isn’t so orderly as having set hours a week to shoot, edit and everything else we do since our times vary on our clients and their events. (Unless that happens to be you in which case I applaud you.) So that means that the weeks I work the weekend, my husband and I skip having a full day together until the following week. This is something I am trying to avoid and why it may seem as if my weekend availability slips away.
A while back I either read or heard (not quite sure at the moment) a photographer talk about how sometimes we have to say “No” to certain things in order to say “Yes” to others. For me in particular, when I say yes to a bride and groom and book their wedding on a weekend date, I am saying no to my husband and children at home. No to being with them, to going out to lunch, to playing in the park together, to napping, to cuddling, to watching movies in the couch with a big bowl of popcorn. In reverse, when I take off a day from work to head out to the beach with the kids, I am saying no to answering emails, scheduling a shoot that day, editing and delivering images and so forth. Saying no to say yes.
I am a horrible no-sayer. I say yes more than I say no. It wasn’t until two weeks ago I was laying in my children’s bed after getting them ready to sleep, singing them bedtime songs, that I realized just how fast these past 3 years have gone by in my life. Everything is happening so fast for me. When the boys were just a few months old my camera roll on my phone was filled with loads of pictures of them on a daily. Now, it seems that I hardly bring out my camera (phone included) to snap a picture. I live the moment yes, but I don’t document. And for some of you that are anti-photos (like my husband) that’s okay but not for me. I live and document simultaneously without feeling like I miss out because although my camera is clicking away my eyes are fixed on them and not whether or not I got the shot. So this lack of twin-photos means only one thing, the busier I have gotten taken photos of others the less I have taken the time to photograph my own. And if I was completely honest with you and myself, I have become too busy for the kind of things we used to do. Like beach dates and ice-cream messes. My weekends have been dedicated to serving others and even weekdays the grandmas have had more than a fair share of babysitting. Being busy working is so great, it’s everything that I’ve wanted when I started shooting in the first place. But not at the cost of missing out on being with my loved ones.
If you follow me on Instagram you will see the immense disconnect that has happened on my personal account vs. my business one. Crazy right? Everything over here is perfectly fine friends, and I thank those of you who sometimes check in because it’s been weeks since I posted anything. The boys are getting big and ever so energetic. They are like the energizer bunny times two. Nothing makes me happier than singing songs with them in bed every night. This past weekend I was scheduled to work both Saturday and Sunday. After my Sunday client rescheduled her shoot for later on during the week, I decided to work only half of Saturday and spend the rest of the time with my loves. We visit the youth fair every single year and this time around we hadn’t gone due to my husband and I’s conflicting schedule. But, come Sunday, everything worked itself out and we escaped. (You can see our visit last year here.) It was the twins first time riding the fair rides and although it may look like they were either bored or scared all the time, I think they quite enjoyed themselves. A day away with them (even though I still had a camera with me) was just what I needed to take on the next couple of busy weeks ahead. One family day outing isn’t a fix to the balance needed, but it definitely serves as a reminder of what matters most.
Matthew has a newfound love for his aunt Kenia that already has me feeling as if he was twenty years old leaving me for the love of his life… its the cutest and most heartwarming thing to see how attentive he is to her and how letting her go is not an option.
I hope you all understand the yes and no concept and that you too implement it in a way that will help you spend more time with your loved ones. I know this means that at times we must sacrifice a lot in order to do so, but I promise you it all works out in the end. Cheers to more days like this where I fell more in love with my husband for the man and dad he is and laughed and giggled with my little monsters at their devilish ways. And let’s not forget one special mention, spent time with my mom walking the fair as we have done for so many years now. Elefant ears, corn and cotton candy, remembering my grandma and all that my childhood once was.
