I think marriage, the right marriage, is the perfect tool for sharpening. Have you ever heard that marriage is like a mirror, as if the person in front of you is just holding up a mirror and showing you who you are? You can’t really argue with that person that you didn’t say that stupid thing or that you didn’t forget that important thing to do that day because the evidence is clear, and staring you in the face… and the culprit is you.

After sitting in the office with my interns for some time yesterday, we were all busy on our computers working away, I started talking to them about how I admired my husband’s way of learning. Michael, I think looks at learning as fun, playing around with a new app on his phone, or setting up the stamps.com postage system for me; he is clearly entertained. Where as I am clearly the opposite, I think of my to do list as something I dread and I certainly don’t want to play around and experiment with something because then I might ruin it. In fact, last night while we were figuring out the stamps.com I am sitting there with my notebook, trying to write out a step-by-step process on how to print stamps. Who do you think learned more about the program? And also before I could finally sit down and listen and look at Michael, he was teaching me everything else that needed my attention before then, had to be done and taken care of. Really, Molly Grace? The way that I learn or rather the way that I approach learning… hasn’t changed since I was in high school ten years ago. I was talking to “the boys” (that is my affectionate name for my interns Alex & Grant) about high school, I remember taking World History and thinking when the course was over, well good I survived that and the good news is, I won’t really need that in the real world. However, the way that I approached that class back in high school is most definitely what is haunting me now. Why is it that I approach learning with a feeling of dread, fear, and worry? Why do I not feel free to explore, get lost and find my way back, is it a girl thing? The way I was raised? Whatever it is, can it be changed?

Last summer, when Michael and I were first married and now my business was suddenly in his house, he would come home from work and ask me questions, because he was curious. Things like, how much do you spend on advertising a year, and what’s your system for mailing packages and have you ever thought of Groupon and I would be quite defensive… like… “ahh… hello I am doing the best that I can, I haven’t looked at what I spend on advertising, and I don’t have a strategy for this yet. But if you want to pull up a chair and take that on yourself, I would love it.”

We laugh about it now because we have it figured out. His questions weren’t the Spanish inquisition, they were curious questions from a guy who’s job is supply chain planning – a man who seriously gets paid to think of new ideas and systems for doing things for a pretty large company. And his questions were curious and asked out of love.

I remember a specific thought I had back then while brushing my teeth. “ You see, this is why I originally didn’t think I could handle a guy like you.” Referencing how I had unfortunately and initially chosen someone different, someone who didn’t have the background and experience and didn’t think far beyond how they were surviving, and thus… I survived in my business by working my butt off, I worked harder but not necessarily smarter and though it’s been great, it could be really amazing and more streamlined.

So here enters Michael in Molly Grace Photography. On my bulletin board post it “To Do List”, he actually has his own color, so that when I think of something I could use his help on or he comes home with a suggestion we can write it down and it can stare us in the face until we decide to take the time and do it.

And seriously so far it’s been awesome… and he cracks me up that he still sits at the computer and explores a solution for something that isn’t exactly pressing at the moment, but when he does, then it’s awesome and we got something figured out that without him probably wouldn’t have been done for at least a year from now without him.

And the other day, while driving home from the city we played a little game of guess where it’s founded, and I learned off the cuff that I did actually know that Target and Caribou Coffee were founded in Minnesota like I thought. All because we passed McDonald’s and acknowledged that McDonald’s was founded in Oakbrook. So here I go… in my learning, or in the way I approach learning. Maybe there is hope for me…

So, in this fun season I am experiencing in my marriage, we just celebrated our 1^st Year Anniversary and are just as in love and excited for the future as ever… I am experiencing a season of sharpening I feel daily as I conquer tasks or check off the to do list that I am beginning this great process of sharpening, and it’s very exciting to think that my business is growing to be a productive and efficient venture all while continuing to relish and cherish the heart of each student I get to capture.

A year ago today my graceful and elegant grandmother Grace Beatrice Wolgemuth whom we called “Gaye” for her gaiety and joy, left this world and headed with great courage to Heaven. I know she was excited to see her heavenly father whom she loved and served her whole life and I also know she must have been incredibly thrilled to see her “lover” as she called him, my grandfather Samuel.

I have been taking a seminar through Landmark Education called Causing the Miraculous and so all I can think of is miracles, and I have one to share. And at this particular time of year, I want to share with you a Miracle that happened in my life last year .

First of all, my husband is my miracle. He is the single most amazing thing that has ever happened to me in all my life. My parents will be reading this, and though I love them, and I know that they love me, and yes nothing in my life would be possible without them, I think they understand what I am saying here. Michael is just sincerely the biggest gift that God has ever given to me personally. And truthfully, his presence in my life I consider a clear sign and grace that my heavenly father does exist, and deeply loves me more than I could ever comprehend, and has a perfect plan for my life, despite how I may have already screwed it up. And just to illustrate this to you, when we got married, we played the song “How he loves me” by David Crowder Band, because that is just how we felt. If you know the song you’ll understand why, this song isn’t about love that a guy has for a girl or vice versa it’s about love that God has for us, and that was most evident to us when got married, that God loved us to give us the gift of each other.

Now let me get back to the story and my grandmother Grace, but before I do let me introduce one more special person whose intricately involved in this story in an amazing way, my maternal grandmother Irene. My Grandma Irene was strong and determined all her life, until she finally sang her last hymn on this earth about 3 months before Grace did.

The story and the lives of these women are what has shaped my genetic heritage and faith legacy my entire life, but the death of these woman is what impacts me more each second I take the time to think about it. Their death, the timing of their death and what it showed me in my life is truly beyond miraculous, and a precious gift that should be shared.

Here begins the story….

When I met Michael I was a young woman who had previously settled, chose someone whom I thought I could make into the person I wanted, quickly realized my error and did a mid course correction. I set out in my journey to bloom where I was planted, really get satisfied with the life God had given me, and continued to grow my business and to share with my life and lessons with my clients.

Michael was everything I had always dreamed of in a man, and truly each time he spoke to me it was as if he was peering into the deepest desires of my heart and making it a reality. We were madly in love, completely compatible and the timing was right. After listening to advice from my mother and my gut we tried to date in all seasons to make sure this was it. It had nearly been 8 months and I was pretty sure Michael was thinking of proposing marriage. I knew Michael well enough to know that since we met on April 19th, and had celebrated each 19th thereafter it would most likely be on the 19th, and as it was then December, and a Saturday night he’d asked me to keep open I thought it would be then. However… God and my Grandma had other plans. My mom’s mom Irene was very ill, I remember distinctly earlier that week and getting the news that it could be any moment. My mother called on December 18th and then sang to me on the phone the song they were singing to my Grandma when she died.

I knew Michael well enough to know he’d planned his proposal for the very next day, but I also knew him well enough to know that once I told him my grandma had gone, that a proposal the next day would be out of the question and bad timing. So the next day, we relished our time of Christmas shopping, and then as he’d had planned rushed to make our reservation…to where I didn’t know… until we arrived, I could see very clearly we were going to relive our first date, and then our second. And at the end of the night when there was no ring…we both knew that that was his original plan… and yet there we were still very much in love. I remember the feeling I had the next morning, acknowledging there was no proposal, and no ring… but the feeling, the absolute peace, and I was so in love, and I really didn’t even need a ring to prove it was unmistakable. And since…since I had been around the block and lost once before, that was the greatest gift I could have ever asked for. I knew the gift was from God with a little help from my grandma. A couple days later Michael proposed and it was with confidence that I accepted the ring, because I knew it was not about the ring, it was about what the ring meant for us, and I knew that what we had would last, and I knew it with all of my heart.

Since we were so in love… and anxious to get married and start our life together we had wanted to get married as close to April as possible and earlier than April was even better. (Remember that talk from my mother about dating in all seasons) After looking at the month of April, we realized there was a conflict with each weekend… when our eyes entered the calendar month of March… and when it looked like the last weekend in March would be ideal for many reasons, we got a special nod from my mother. The weekend that it seemed most ideal for us was a very special weekend, it was my Grandma’s birthday weekend of what would have been her 98th year. My mom couldn’t have been happier to think of celebrating it in that way. Again, another little wink from my Grandma.

Since I had been through the “wedding thing” before, and didn’t really want to live through Michael and Molly the Sequel (Ironic, I know) we had decided to keep our guest list very small and considering I had a large extended family and most of Michael’s family wouldn’t be able to make it, I felt that it would be okay to not invite my cousins. After all, what we were most excited about was life, and living it and experiencing it with others and our families and so we were looking forward to gatherings and dinners with my relatives later on. We had expressed our love and our desire for those things and I think they got that and understood. I think the most important thing that not inviting tons of family meant to me was that I was so very much in love and devoted to Michael that I did not need everyone there to make it real. And for me, and the bride I was last time, (too obsessed with the details) that was simply a testament that things were different and right.

About two weeks before our wedding there was a little discussion about whether or not Gaye would be able to come to the wedding, due to her health. I really could not fathom getting married without her there and in the bottom of my heart thought that she’d be able to come. But just in case she couldn’t Michael and I went to visit Gaye. Our time with her I will cherish forever. She said to us, how wonderful it was to know that Michael was with me. She mentioned how much she thought that had meant to my parents, and what a comfort that was to know that. Michael and I deeply understood what she meant.

What we didn’t know was that that would be the last time we spent with her. Three days later, she slipped into Heaven and was at peace with her greatest loves.

What transpired was quite amazing, after a discussion my parents had with my aunts and uncles was that the very same weekend, the friday before our wedding would really be the most ideal time for her funeral. My parents, myself and Michael just decided that it really then would feel right to then further extend the invitation to the wedding to the extended family who would now all be in town. In one day, only 10 days before the wedding we nearly added 20 people and 3 new tables to the plans. I remember feeling, elated and open handed and just plain honored to have it work out like this. It was the kind of thing, that made sense to me in my heart, and touched me. I totally knew it was indeed a gift from God and that this time the help was from Gaye. Like God, in his infinite wisdom and Gaye, in her grace had planned her timely exit to communicate a message to me, “Molly, I know you love Michael so much that you don’t necessarily need your family there for it to feel real, but I want to give you this great gift of having them there, and it will feel wonderful and have you feel truly blessed and supported, and yet it won’t feel anything like before.” It was a wink from Gaye most defiantly and a pat on the knee as she did, and I felt her love completely.

As the funeral was the day before the wedding and because she had lots of family who loved her each of her children spoke and one grandchild from each child spoke and I wanted to so much. I so wanted to share my vivid memories of childhood memories all that I remembered of her. That perfect timing, the fact that Michael and I got to sit and listen to all the great many things that she had done in her life, the day before our wedding was miraculous. Her legacy, the way she had lived and died and served our Lord in heaven, her husband and children was inspiring and served as a great calling to us as we would begin our new life together. See… God knew all these details, things that would mean so much and things that we couldn’t have ever planned.

So on this day, especially I thank the Lord for my Grandmothers. I often think of them in Heaven. I do think that each of them are spending a fair amount of time praising God and singing as they loved to do here on earth. But I am also thinking of them up in Heaven having coffee or tea together and laughing about what they had done even in their final moments. And knowing in their wise grandma way it’s great impact on my life and the reasons it continually reminds me of how much God is in the details.

Yesterday I asked for help from my friends and family and all of my facebook friends by posting a job description of a position open here at the studio. Asking for help is kind of a weird thing for me, or I guess it depends on the circumstances. I often ask my sweetheart for his help on a regular basis, can you turn off the lights, get me a glass of water, can you help order this, or research that, etc. And as of late, he actually has his own color coded post it notes on my great and ever growing to do list bulletin board, of things I really need his help on. And get this, next week he is using his comp day, a day off work to help me here in the office. Yes, he is the best and unfortunately he’s already taken.

But the concept of asking for help is kinda interesting to me. Asking for help is saying, there is a weakness here, there is a vulnerability to saying, I could use your insight and assistance with this, I don’t know how to do this, or I am sure you can do this better than me. Though in this one conversation there is also a great and significant opportunity for growth. I feel I am able to grow leaps and bounds when I ask for help. Suddenly when I ask for help I am clear about what I know I don’t  know, I am then also clear about things I didn’t even know I didn’t know. AND then suddenly, the power of whatever that thing was, the subject, the topic, whatever it is, that was hanging over my head as something I didn’t understand or couldn’t manage or get, well it’s gone and all that is left is me and that thing that used to be a problem, but is now a great opportunity for anything…

It’s kind of cool.

AND needless to say I am really looking forward to all the opportunities and possibilities asking for help can bring.

For those of you who are interested or just plan curious here’s what I am looking for:

-Molly Grace

Molly Grace Photography seeks assistant/studio manager

Seeking an innovative, organized, and driven individual to help run Molly Grace Photography as an assistant studio manager. This role requires a focus on customer service, marketing, and sales as an integral part of the business. Person will assist with  managing intern workflow, customer interaction, and development of traditional and social media marketing efforts.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills essential. Work requires proficiency in basic office apps as well as familiarity with photoshop and lightroom. Due to office workflow and requirements, experience on Mac highly preferred. Basic math and accounting a plus, specifically experience with quickbooks but not required.

Position offers 2 days/week at $10/hr

I think it’s very fitting that on this random day in February that I write about New Years Resolutions. Long after all the faithful blogger’s have listed off theirs and they are already knee deep into other topic’s I am just now writing and declaring. But I will say it’s not like I am just now thinking about mine.

Since I was a kid, I loved summer but not for the reasons you might suspect, and for the same reason, I loved the begining of the school year, the end of Christmas break and the beginning of a new semester. The reason is this, … I could make these silent resolutions to improve myself, at these pivotal points in life I could decide, this is the life I want and this is the way I am going to live, and these are my goals to get there.

I have learned at this point, that I am very good at making resolutions, but sometimes I lack a little follow through. Though as I look back on all the things that even happened in the last year, I am farther along in the journey of improvement. Since January 1^st 2010, I planned a wedding in 3 months, got married to the love of my life, painted every room in our house, opened the studio in our house, added a master bathroom to our house, shot 83 seniors, 13 weddings, potty trained a puppy, and just in the last month accomplished with the help of my husband 2 major items on my Molly Grace Photography to do list, which I am not kidding had been on my board of to do’s for a year. ( Run on sentence J ) So yes, I am better off… each day is an improvement upon the last. Never mind that for the last 11 months of marriage I have been failing each day to get up at the early hour of 6:05 with my husband, but each day I resolve that I grow comfortable getting up a little earlier and closer to that goal. So hey, I’m improving, right?

So now that you know all my accomplishments and that one daily failure that mind you sets the course for my day, where do I go from here? Not to mention those 4 other goals that are somewhere between accomplishment and failure, and have improved none the less.

So here are my resolutions and also a deep inside look at Molly Grace, and the owner of Molly Grace Photography, who is unfortunately in some respects very human…

#1 Get up and seriously out of bed at 6:05am

#2 Walk Bailey daily

#3 Workout 3 days a week

#4 Stop biting my nails

#5 Stop biting the inside of my checks

The declaration and essentially the pledge of that list is kinda, humbling, and truly might be a little TMI for some of you. Perhaps, it might discourage you from booking a session with me? Oh no she bites her nails! I don’t think that’s very professional! And truthfully my response is, “ hey, you run a business and see if the pressure and the pressure you put on yourself doesn’t cause you to bite your nails or acquire some crazy bad habit, so I bite my nails, it could be worse.”

But in truth… this year is about resolutions, it’s about dealing with things, accomplishing things, setting up habits and a rhythm that is workable for my life and for the life of Molly Grace Photography and Vrai. To use what I got, and get myself ready to accept more of the good, more clients, great opportunities, and maybe in a couple years,  children.

I will say, hopefully by writing today those resolutions to the world today, I will feel a stronger desire to keep with them. I will say also that in the time isn’t taken to write this little post this morning. I have managed to accomplish two things so huge on the hierarchy of resolutions they didn’t even make the list. So that’s exciting!

So my love to you all as you life the life you want, weather you make silent resolutions or public declarations. And remember that you life is your Art, and for the most part it’s constantly in the making.

- Molly Grace

So funny that these Behind the eye posts have happened so few times as we had planned to do every other week. At this point you have to just laugh at yourself… and just do the best you can so hop on the wagon again and write them.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the old lady inside me, she’s perhaps coming out sooner than I want even though I am only a mere 28 years old. I’ve pulled out about 6 gray hairs and been going to the chiropractor 2 a week the last 2 months to get rid of my these serve headaches I keep having. All of this has gotten me thinking about my future daughters mother (not prego yet ) my husbands future partner in the rocking chair, and ultimately the old lady within me. I guess my big lesson lately is to be kind to myself, to take time for myself, to consider how I process stress and find a healthy way to deal, to not be so hard on my body but instead to cherish it and hopefully it will here long enough to laugh at the days to come in the rocking chair with my love, and maybe have a grand child or two.

My advice to you girls and guys is to take it from me and do the same, today maybe go for a walk, maybe take a 20 min nap instead of a cup of coffee or a red bull. Oh yes, and when possible eat organic

I’ve been a little busy in my personal life lately, and I want to share it with everyone. It’s a little late, and some clients already know, but it was such big news that I couldn’t just sum it quickly since I felt there was so much I wanted to say about it, and then with my busy season in gear its hard to find a moment.

I fell in love and got married.

I met Michael at a time in my life when I wasn’t at all looking for a relationship, which was kind of a nice place to be since often before in my life I was one of those girls who was constantly looking for that opportunity to find love. I had met him twice of before at church and even casually talked to him once, but I say the official day we met was April 19th. It was such an amazing day. He asked me out to lunch (he’ll tell you he was drawn to me) and I responded by saying “only if its a big group of people. otherwise I’d like to go back home and work.” It was such an uncanny remark and totally shows that I wasn’t looking for someone to complete me, make my life, or be my savior. Of course he got a big group of people together. We met later at a Shane and Shane concert that I had planed to go to that night. I saw him there and was like ” hey let’s sit together.” At that point I found myself curious about his life and his faith story. There was this moment during the concert that had never happened to me before. It was just this feeling. I saw him open his hands in worship to the Lord and I was like “Wow”. Something just hit me. Up until then I hadn’t thought of him as anything other than a friend. He walked me to my car and asked me about my life, and I responded with the obvious answers of work and family. His persistence led to a phone call and he actually called when he said he would, even though I had forgotten about it! It led to our first date and we just talked and walked around downtown Naperville for hours. He says the way he approached our relationship was something like cautious optimism. He approached our relationship in a way that he had never approached an other relationship, making sure I fit in 5 characteristics that he had been looking for, and because I seem to fit those qualifications, our relationship felt natural and easy.

Michael’s 5 characteristics were if we were compatible in faith, finance, had similar ideas about family, and, the biggest thing was if I was independent: did I have a life, was I looking for someone to save me. Then there also had to be a spark. I think the 4 issues aligned, and, because of this, we had a spark together. This is what he says about me: Molly is unlike any woman I had ever known. I never felt the way I did with her before and knew after only 2 months of dating that she was the one. Her spirit, drive, beauty, and amazing personality drew me to her unlike any other woman I knew. I loved the way our time together always felt so natural and easily lost track of time a lot on our dates. I would say we had immediate chemistry and our first kiss was evidence of this. It has always felt like home being around her and her family and cherish that very much. For the first time I felt like I found the one God intended for me and that message was loud and clear. I am so proud of her accomplishments as a photographer and so proud to call her my wife.

Michael is everything I’ve ever wanted and never thought I could find in one person. I love him because he leads me, and I am a pretty strong girl. I love him because he makes plans and follows through and researches everything. I love him because he’s silly and spontaneous and we laugh like when your five years old. Our first kiss was incredible, he put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me in. I was literally drunk off his kiss (Of course I hadn’t had a drop of anything alcoholic, but it was such a great moment, I was literally in a daze) I remember, after our kiss leaving his house like literally running from his door to my car. And when he told me he loved me, I just felt this rush inside me and I nearly cried.

This is what I want everyone to take away from this; this is my tiny little soap box, for girls… and for guys too, but mostly to girls since I am one. Wait, really really wait, to find the right person who is perfect for you, not the perfect person, (who is) but the one who really works with you. As someone who had been previously looking for someone to fulfill their lives, I quickly learned that just a person, just a warm body was not enough, and you can never change anyone to be something you want. I think the key thing that had happened right before I met Michael is that I was clear and honest with myself that maybe I wasn’t going to find someone, and so I made sure I was going to be happy and satisfied with what was in front of me, my business, my family, my friends, my humble apartment. I think that’s what really made things easy for Michael and I, cause he was, just very simply that icing on the cake of life. So here it is girls, I am bottom-lining it don’t compromise or give up things your looking for in a person just because you want to settled. Wait, and you will find it, and when you do it will bull you over, I promise.

Michael and I waited to get engaged as long as we could. My parents had encouraged me to date him in all seasons. As much as we would have loved to get married after 3 months (as by then we knew we were in love, wanted to married so badly, and were looking forward to having a life), I’m thrilled that we waited; the circumstances that we found ourselves in or the situations that happened while we dated, meeting family and friends or health issues, just allowed for us to be completely confirmed that we were the right people for each other. There was always just a knowing and a huge joy with him in how experiences felt around him and how he handled different aspects of my life together that by the time we got engaged, we were super sure, and I hardly even needed a ring to show that I was his, though he picked out such a beautiful one. So all in all we dated 8 months, got engaged and were married 3 months later, so 11 months, when you know you know.

Sure, we wanted a beautiful wedding, but we weren’t as focused on the material aspects of it. Starting a life with Michael was enough for me that those things didn’t take precedence over the relationship we were starting together, so we set the date only 3 months away.

We chose to get married and have our reception at Klein Creek golf course and take photos at Klein Creek farm. I loved having photos done there because I volunteered there when I was growing up. I think when we thought about having our pictures at Klein Creek farm I had envisioned walking down the long path towards him. I was so happy to have my parents there to walk me down, yet I felt it significant to say goodbye to them and walk the rest of the way to him myself. I envisioned that picture of my parents hugging, I knew they would, and Kristina and I talked about that, and they caught it. And it was so funny, cause Michael was late, ( and he never is ) so I had an opportunity to run around a bit, then I had to hide behind my parents while we waited for him to pass me. Those are the sweetest and funnest moments we could never have planned.

Our theme centered on naturally simple elegance. The colors of our wedding represented our precious family members that we had gone home to heaven this past year. We had several different handmade items all contributed by friends and family. My florist was my father! Beyond the flowers, we had a Chuppah adorned with fabric and flowers but most importantly it provided the lighting. I designed the invitations & programs and a friend addressed them. I even made homemade fudge for our favors with Eva, and designed the necklaces she and I wore. I even had one of my brides generously pass along her idea and let us borrow her moss boxes and lanterns. Anna, did our make-up. We had a friend from church as a day of coordinator help to see that everything ran smoothly. Michael’s mom made homemade lasagna for our rehearsal dinner at our soon to be house, and my friends were like hostess and servers for our guests. The whole day was an out pouring of love, and a gift.

Can I say the whole day was the best part… it just was the sweetest most cherished day I have ever lived. It is a lot of tiny vivid moments that I will hold in my heart forever. I loved rushing to the farm, loved crouching behind my parents waiting for Michael. I cherished the moment that Michael and I looked around the room at the reception and just thought to ourselves that everything was better than we’d ever dreamed. I loved all those moments between all the big ones.

For Michael, the best part was the moment he saw me walking down the road with my parents, in my wedding dress that he hadn’t seen yet. It was one of the most vidid memories he’s ever had of being so filled with joy. He also loved our first dance cause it was our first moment of being alone, not literally but everyone else faded away for those few minutes and it was just us.

Our advise: once you’ve planned out how the day will go and all the little details remember that at the end of the day it’s just one day and just a celebration of the happy days to come. It’s about the relationship you have with your sweetheart. Of course you want the best people there, hire the best venders you can afford and share with them your vision for the day, but then give them freedom to be the artists that they are. We got some of the best photos on earth because I told Kristina to just feel free to shoot however her artistic heart desired.

In retrospect, even though I would love to back to the wedding and relive the day, with Michael I know tomorrow will be better than that day, from the little moments like us making dinner together to the big ones when our baby is born ( a couple years down the road ).

A lot of people ask me who photographed my wedding, and it was an obvious choice to have Vrai shoot it as I work for them. I have had the total privilege of working with Kristina Carter for 5 years now as her associate shooter for Vrai Photography. She has been my mentor and cheerleader in photography and most importantly she has been one of my closest friends. Kristina and Aaron rocked this wedding in ways we cannot get over, we love them so much, these kinds of friends are the best family you could ever create.

Here is the link to her blog posts
Part 1
Part 2

Tina (as I call her) entered some of our pictures into a contest and won, take a look. Contest Blog

Our wedding did get a little fun press too, it was noted on Style Unveiled! It was such a reward and we were flattered to be recognized. Style Unveiled

Here are some of Tina’s fun photos that didn’t make Vrai’s blog or the presses, but I love! Oh Yes! These needed to be marked with the Vrai Logo as they were shot by Vrai, but we made a mistake and put the MG logo on them, I am sure Tina will understand, but note… these are Vrai shots all the way.

Ahh…. Winter’s in the midwest are always challenging around mid February. It was fun when it snowed in December but now it’s getting a little old and the snow continues to dump on us. I know this well because after growing up in Wheaton and going to Wheaton North I’ve been in the Chicago land area for most of my life. Despite my attempt to stay in the South after my time at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, I soon realized there is nothing like living by family, so I moved back. This is a truly unique and fun winter for me because I am deeply looking forward to officially starting my life with my sweetheart in the Spring. Our Wedding is quickly approaching and I find myself a little crazed and sometimes in circles over what to do next. In addition to the wedding planning, we are painting our house and working on my “to do” list for fun changes here at Molly Grace Photography. The list seems endless and I often have a hard time even accomplishing any of it somedays. When the list is long like it is now I begin to stress and honestly, that stressing out just makes accomplishing anything nearly impossible. How amazing would it be if I just did the things on my do list, didn’t tie it to any other emotion or anxiety and just accomplished stuff?! A lot more could be done, perhaps. Umm… procrastination, can anyone relate? It’s funny because I thought a lot of my procrastination would end when school ended and because then no one would give me dumb homework I would dread doing. Unfortunately procrastination continues, especially when you assign yourself stuff to do and especially when you are the boss. Now of course, I am a girl and also an artist so I was designed to have a little more emotion to things than let’s say the average “guy.” The average guy that understood things for me would go a lot better if I stopped procrastinating and just did it.

So here’s my challenge, to myself and to you. Let’s work on NOT procrastinating! just kidding, that’s lame. Let’s just NOT procrastinate. It’s a simple as that. Let’s take the opportunity to just simply do what needs to be done. Work at these things and give only our best, then check it off the list and move on without stressing. Then you have the knowledge that you did it, you are prepared and it’s all good.

In art school, my professors said that every photo was a self-portrait. I find that true, even when I’m shooting a senior who seems to be so different from myself. I relate to every one of you, identify with each of you. I see a little bit of myself reflected in you, in this shot literally
Can you guess whose eye I’m reflected in?

One Beautiful Weekend in February, my family and I went over to D.C. to celebrate Ray’s life and legacy, with all people he worked with on the Hill. It was such a nice celebration, and a great time to hear stories about our lives with him. Just like this little moment in the airport, some things are still as timeless as children watching for planes. Our memories with Ray are precious and sweet.