3/52

Every year, my mom's side of the family gets together in southeast Missouri for our family reunion.  My grandma is one of nine children, so there are great aunts and great uncles and second and third cousins galore.  The kids grow like weeds from one year to the next and it's always fun to catch up on everyone's adventures. 

This year, we did something a little different.  We had a smaller version of our family reunion here in Illinois.  My mom requested a family photo - and I'll be honest, I was reluctant.  There is a lot of pressure being the unofficial family photographer.  Not everyone likes having their picture taken.  Getting everyone to cooperate all at the same time can be a challenge.  But I'm so glad she did.

Back Row L-R: Uncle David, Melissa's husband Wayne, my brother Nathan, Uncle John, my Papa, Alexis' boyfriend Giovanni, my nephew Jacob. Third Row L-R: my Papaw, my husband Brian, my niece Ashley, my cousin Melissa, my daughter Abigail. Second Row L-R: Aunt Sandy, Aunt Jackie, my Grandma, my sister-in-law Marcy, my daughter Emma, my niece Alexis.  Front row L-R: me, my son Isaac, my mom and my nephew Luke.

And because no Hawk family family shoot is complete without a silly picture...

Back Row L-R: Uncle David, Melissa's husband Wayne, my brother Nathan, Uncle John, my Papa, Alexis' boyfriend Giovanni, my nephew Jacob. Third Row L-R: my Papaw, my husband Brian, my niece Ashley, my cousin Melissa, my daughter Abigail. Second Row L-R: Aunt Sandy, Aunt Jackie, my Grandma, my sister-in-law Marcy, my daughter Emma, my niece Alexis.  Front row L-R: me, my son Isaac, my mom and my nephew Luke.

 

 
And now you know why I'm a little crazy.

2/52

Persistence.  Determination.  Dedication. Courage. Drive. Heart.  Downright Crazy. 

These are all words I would use to describe my thirteen year old, Emma as it relates to horses.  This girl will freeze, get soaked, or sweat bullets for the horses she rides and takes care of.  She says her "barn friends" are her true friends (probably because she spends every available waking minute there!). She was given an opportunity to be in (yet another) horse show this past weekend.  It was a last minute opportunity.  She paid for it with her own money (I'm still uncertain as to why this is such an expensive sport).  It was THE hottest weekend of the year.  She had to be fully dressed in long boots (thanks to Erica for passing them down to Emma!), breeches, a long sleeved shirt, a jacket and a helmet.  She was sweating even before she got on her horse (and let me just clarify, not her horse, but the horse she was riding) - heck, I was sweating just looking at her. She didn't complain, she didn't whine, she didn't back down.  She was focused, driven and determined. And the ribbons she brought home are proof that she is improving.

Emma and Talladega

1/52

Weddings are beautiful because love is beautiful.  Months (sometimes years) of planning goes into the details of a special day. Everyone in attendance looks their best, the bride is radiant and the location is amazing.

Everyone deserves love and this is especially true of Beth and Tom.  Beth is Brian's cousin and she is one of the sweetest, kindest and most genuine people I know.  We were invited to celebrate their wedding day in Lavalle, Wisconsin on July 12 at Dutch Hollow Lake.  I was honored to be there (and to have had a tiny part in their ceremony).

What I've learned about this family is that they don't do anything halfway.  It's go big, or go home.  So after the ceremony, huge cannons of confetti went off as the new Mr. and Mrs. shared a kiss.

My Story

It seems strange to start something new in July instead of January.  But I think this is more than just a "new year" resolution.  Maybe more like a "new life" resolution?  And since I'm always late (ask my family), it seems appropriate that this would happen for me now instead of when I was in my 20's or in January of any year for that matter.  Having kids when I was younger was great from an energy standpoint (if I had to wake up at night every few hours now instead of 13 years ago, I might need an IV of coffee dripping for all of my waking hours to survive), but it means that I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up - and I'm grown up!  Spending time taking care of my little people and focusing on everyone else for so long left me wondering who I am and what I like to do.

Seventeen and a half years ago, Brian agreed to a first date (yes, I asked him!).  Six months later we said "I do." Since then we've had three crazy and amazing kids - Abigail, Emma and Isaac - and a great dane, Zoey.

For my eleventh birthday, my mom got me a super sweet yellow and white disc camera.  This was the best gift ever.  I brought this camera everywhere (I dug this picture out of a box in my basement) and I'm pretty sure one of my mom's three jobs was solely to pay for the film and developing of all the pictures I took.

My Dad and I - Christmas 1987

When I had my oldest, I brought her to the Picture People every month for pictures.  This got to be expensive.  Every picture they took was fantastic - I had to buy them all!  My friend Julie convinced me that it was time to get my own camera and learn how to use it.  She took me to the photography shop that her uncle worked at and hooked me up.  I had my very own Canon EOS Rebel 35mm.  Julie taught me everything she knew and she was great!  We took amazing pictures.  We even got fancy and bought black and white film.  Now I was the one feeling like I needed another job to pay for film and developing. 

Then everything went digital.  Brian's friend Chad had an amazing camera.  I must have asked a gjillion questions (starting with what does DSLR stand for?).  He was so patient with me (thanks Chad!).  And then I took the leap. In my hands was a Nikon D5000.  Not the top of the line, but nice enough to notice a difference from the HP point and shoot camera we had.  Within months I became the unofficial family event photographer.  How nice it was to take 500 pictures for one event and not have to develop all that film!  We could see instantly that the picture was terrible and take it again.  Every moment was captured.  My kids quickly dreaded when I got out the camera.

Almost two years ago I thought it was time to take it to the next level.  Get out of auto mode and step into the world of manual shooting, photographically speaking.  Take more control over what was happening in the camera.  Brian bought me a Nikon D7100, which was a few steps above the D5000 in that I could easily control the shutter speed, aperture and ISO in the camera.  I became a member of clickinmoms.com, took classes and workshops, and clicked like crazy.  My girls actually started hiding from me when they saw me with my camera.  January rolled around and all the photographers were buzzing with their 365 projects.  One picture a day for a whole year.  I was pumped; I was all in!  For about 12 days.  And then life happened.  Reality hit. Let's be honest - I don't have time or can't even remember to take vitamins every day. What was I thinking?

Day 1 of the Project 365 (January 2014)

Fast forward to June 2015.  Who am I?  What do I want to do with my life?  What is my passion?  This isn't the first time I've asked myself these questions.  How do I figure out the answers?  On July 1, I started Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Challenge to Master Organization and Achieve Your Goals.  You might think that I'm on day 21 being that it's July 21, but come on, I'm always late.  This is no exaggeration, people.  It's more likely to take me 60 days to finish this 30 day challenge.  Regardless, it's been absolutely amazing so far (another blogpost perhaps?) thinking about what I want to achieve in the next 12 months.  One of my goals is to complete a weekly photography project.  A daily photography project is an overwhelming and paralyzing undertaking for me right now, but maybe that's a goal for July 2016.

So welcome to my Project 52.  Check back every week for a new photo.