It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

I am happy.  Fully, completely, beautifully happy.

I had a chat the other day with an old friend from my modeling days.  It made me realize I'm the one who has changed.  I felt so empty in front of the camera.  Just standing there - faking expressions, feelings, ideas.  Inventing false realities.  This self-obsessed world that is thoroughly saturated with vanity and entitlement.  I lived in that world but I didn't belong.  I was so lonely, so empty.

And now I'm with Nathaniel. I'm pursuing the things that make me happy, and he supports me like no other. I'm photographing what I love.  Real life.  Things make sense now.

This is what I want.

This is what I want.  No lights.  No backdrop.  No poses.  Just people the way they are - which is more than enough.

I have fallen completely and hopelessly in love with this part of life.  Pregnancy is beautiful, birth is empowering, children are innocent.


I want to show this.  Nothing staged. Nothing fake.  Just honest reality, which is more breathtaking than anything else in the world.

I love this baby more than I can express.

Halloween

We didn't make much of a habit of dressing up for Halloween when we were kids.  There were a few times, sure.  But it wasn't something we focused on.  I do remember a photo of my sister and I on the front porch, though, from when I was maybe six years old.  She was dressed as a fairy princess and I was a clown with big, painted cheeks and a poofy green wig.

Last year, I had a blast walking around my parent's neighborhood with my two wonderful nieces.  This year, they were trick-or-treating in my brother-in-law's parent's neighborhood, and my husband and I had other plans.  I wasn't able to go out with them, but I did get to take a few quick photos on the front porch before they left. =)