As luck would have it, the majority of Georgia had a snowstorm last week and I was couped up in the house, with no where to go for a solid 3 days. Forced to reckon with my to do list, I was able to scratch things off with an unmistakable sense of accomplishment for each slash. Part of that list? Creating new blog series.

Every once in a while, I come across things that I feel the need to tell everyone about. Over and over again. Whether it be from an amazing deal on a purchase or a really great product I don’t know how I ever lived with out, I can’t shut up about it. Apparently my family and friends aren’t enough, so I decided to make an official record by typing them on here and sharing with all of cyberspace…or the few that read this little ole blog….

First up… Google Reader. I actually discovered this last year, and if you are a blog reader like me, this just changed your life. Reader allows you to subscribe to all of your favorite blogs and when you log in, just like mail, it shows you all the blogs that have updated their posts. When I first discovered this I was all what?!? you mean I don’t have to check all my blogs randomly for new posts and try to remember or save to favorites the ones I forget to check frequently. Well yes that’s exactly what it means.

Here is an overall screenshot of my Google Reader…that  just so happens to be set on Kelly Lane Photography.

The left side houses all of the blogs that I have subscribed to. The ones in bold indicate unread posts and the number.

On the top left, I can add a subscription and see how many total blog posts are unread. So for example if you wanted to add this blog, you would click “add a subscription” and enter kellylaneblog.com

Voila! Its as simple as that. When I open Gmail, there is a link to open reader as well, so I open the 2 simultaneously and just keep them open.

One of my absolute favorite, non photography blogs is southernsavers.com. Its a couponing blog that keeps me up to date with deals, specials and coupons. I am addicted and this blog has saved me so much money!

For more information on Google Reader, click here.

It started with a random conversation on the way to dinner with friends. A bucket list. What it is and what would be on it. Did the term ‘bucket list” actually come from the movie or was it around long before? Then, I was put on the spot. So…what would be on your bucket list? In a moment of pressure, I realized I hadn’t really organized my thoughts before to make a bucket list. So I gave the logical answer. The first thing on my bucket list, would be…to make….a bucket list….of course. The response? Laughter. pfft. If I don’t know whats on the list, then I can’t do it now can I?

In 2011, one goal I have set is to write stuff down. To make various lists of sorts. In the midst of chaos and overwhelming mental checklists, there is something redeeming about taking a pen and making a list on paper. It makes the chaos become more conquerable. And lets be honest, it sure does feel good striking through items on the list.

The Bucket list is a new blog series I am going to start. An online journal of the things I want to do and when I get the chance to do them. The first item in this series? Clearly…is making the list. Happy 2011!

We were put in the same group together. I had signed up for a mentorship program and was invited to a fancy luncheon to kick it off. She sat at my table and at break time we made our introduction. There was small talk and from then on we kept in touch, running into each other at church and/or mentorship meetings.

I was struck by her wisdom. What seemed beyond her years. She was finishing up med school. Compassionate, strong, caring and understanding. Just a few things I noticed about her immediately. Every single time I saw her she would ask me about my photography. She would dote on me to anyone standing around. She made me feel special. Like I was actually good at this thing. Like she really cared.

At the age of 27,  Michelle was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of liver cancer. I didn’t know. I didn’t know until just a few months ago when I talked with her just exactly what she was going through. I felt guilty. A trait she would never want me to feel. In October Michelle was admitted to the hospital and I was lucky enough to be able to go visit her. Just 2 days later she would be flying to her home country where all her family was in Malaysia.

In the hospital room, we talked. I listened to her journey. Her courage. Her unshakable faith. It was so inspiring. I questioned what my own faith would be like in that situation.  In the midst of conversation about her, Michelle turned it on me. She asked me questions about my life. Things I was going through and dealing with. Things that I did not turn to God with first. Right there in that room, in uncomprehensible pain, in sickness, in youth, Michelle responded with wisdom. She stood in faith when I couldn’t even have it for myself. She encouraged me.

This past Sunday, Michelle passed away in Malaysia. The news, devastating. Her faith, never ceasing. I have never met such an amazing woman of God. I sit here at my computer, tear filled with so many questions. Questions that can’t be answered. I appreciated a comment written on her Facebook wall, “You now understand what we can still only question”.

Michelle you are dearly missed. I am so honored to have known you. Thank you for believing in me.

One little girl, confined to the space of 2 airplane seats, occupied by mom and dad. Mom trying to amuse her. Singing a song, playing a game, looking at books and magazines. Dad, fervently studying papers in his hand. Diagrams of sort. One read Reserve Pack guide. Another, Rip Cord. Ah… Military notes. He read them over and over. His little girl interrupting every so often. Vying for his attention. He would look at her and smile. Patient. Loving. He then went back to his sheets. Quietly repeating each step aloud. Hand gestures signaling he got it, then he would move on to the next. After a few moments he handed the sheets to his wife. She would quiz him.

Eventually the little girl fell asleep. Sprawled out stomach down across her mom and dad’s legs. So peaceful. Now, mom could rest. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, tucked under her husbands arm. Wrapped around her, in complete security. The plane was dark, except for one dimly lit light. It pointed on his papers. Little girl across his legs. Arm around his wife. Papers in the other hand, still studying. It was a moment that touched me. So beautiful.

This family sat next to me on the plane to Houston. As I observed this moment. I wish desperately I could take a picture. For me, to remember how beautiful love is. For them, to have to remember this time in their lives. Probably difficult as he goes through training. None the less loving. As I remembered I had my camera in my bag and thought about grabbing it and asking to take a picture, the cabin lights came on…moment gone. I wanted to tell this man how much I respected him. How beautiful his family was. To encourage him to keep pushing. But I was chicken. I decided to write about it so I would never forget that moment.

Today, I’m thankful for love. So full, so inspiring, so comforting. Today, I celebrate the loved ones around me. Happy Thanksgiving.

Its finally cool here in Georgia and after shopping the past few months for fall clothes, I was overly excited to put on my boots and sweaters at the slightest drop in temperature. I love the seasonal changes and of course the fashion that comes with it. Here are a few of my favorite things for fall 2010:

1. What is that mess on the top left corner? Well that is the smoreiffic and caloric fest of Golden Graham Bars. I had never had one before and when a friend handed her homemade goodie to me I was in heaven. I recommend these to everyone.

2. Sweaters, leggings and boots: My favorite combination. I will be wearing these 3 pieces pretty much 6 out of 7 days in the week. When I am really feeling fancy, I’ll even through on a belt around the sweater. This look is so easy, comfortable, and uber stylish that its my favorite look to rock. I actually own the boots in the picture and they are ridiculously comfortable. I LOVE them.

3.  Starbucks: Its cold! Get a Starbucks. Any excuse will work. Nothing like that white cup in your hand on a cool fall day.

4. Loreal Double Extend Mascara: My friend Jennifer raved about this mascara…and then she let me try it. I have never been much of a mascara girl- but once I tried it, I had to go out and get my own. IMMEDIATELY.

5.  Faux leather Jackets, or minus the leather Express would say. These are so cute with dresses or even leggings. It’s what I am wearing on the 7th day of the week.

6. Fedora Hat: I don’t have one yet…but I really really want one. I have seen people wear them with just jeans and a t-shirt and it just adds a little something to the look to make it look more stylish.  I will own one soon.

7. Silver Nail Polish: It’s the new black nail polish. I think I like it even better because I have it on now and no one has asked me if I am going goth or celebrating Halloween.

So there you have it: My favorite things. Feel free to add your own in the comments!

I was in a frenzy last week as I relied on my GPS to navigate me to the first Atlanta Smug Meeting. This was especially exciting because I had been waiting for a Smug to launch in Atlanta and a respected photographer and new friend, Liana was speaking. I was running late, as usual, and it was 6:30 which meant traffic. In Atlanta, rush hour lasts from 3:00 in the afternoon until 7:00pm. Really…there is traffic all.the.time, whether it be at 11 at night or 9am on a Saturday morning. ALWAYS. I hate traffic. Arghhh. But that’s a different post.

Following the GPS route, I pulled up to the toll booth on 400, and grabbed my wallet to get my $.50 toll. The panic began to creep in. I didn’t have any money. I didn’t even have a penny in my wallet. Surely I had change in my car so I popped open my 2 default change storing compartments and…nothing. NOTHING! Rather than FREAK OUT, I remained calm and pulled up to the line that was titled CASHIER. As I pulled up to the nice, beautiful, pretty, amazing (and any other positive thought I could think of) woman, I handed her my credit card. Like I did that all the time, no big deal, just run the $.50 fee on my credit card please, thank you! She looked at me. With that look. The you idiot look. My easy breezy I do this all the time facade melted…and I crumbled. “I don’t have ANY money I explained. Can you please please please just charge it to my card? What happens if I can’t pay? Can I get an I.O.U? Riiggghhttt an I.O.U, I’m sure they give those all the time. She interjected mid sentence and I caught my breath. Then she told me that if I didn’t have any cash, they would charge my credit card. $25.50 for the toll fee. That’s twenty.five.dollars.and.fifty.cents. What!?!?! Oh sweet.baby.Jesus. I did NOT want to pay an extra $25. I don’t even like 400…that’s right I don’t like the road. I try to avoid it whenever I can and the one time I decide to take it this happens. Pfft… I am never driving this road again. I’ll show it!

I felt like an idiot. I looked in my rear view mirror and yes yes, I was in fact the person holding up the line. My face must of been bright red. The woman at the booth began talking to someone behind me and lifted up her hand in a wave to confirm she heard correctly. This sweet, beautiful, amazing, pretty woman looked at me and said, “The car behind you is going to pay your toll.” Rather than say thank you and move forward, I decided to open my mouth,”So you’re going to let me go through?” That’s right I essentially asked her if someone else paying my toll equated to her letting me go through the booth. I am way good at sticking my foot in my mouth. She looked at me, gave me a oh sweet child smile and pressed the magic button that lifts up the gate. I hoisted my body up out of my window as much as I could to tell the car behind me thank you. Geez the line was REALLY long now. I couldn’t see in the reflection of their windshield, but raised my hand in complete appreciation, hopped back into my seat and drove through the gate, exhaling a huge sigh of relief. Completely and utterly grateful for such a small gesture. I began to think as I continued my route to the Smug meeting- If I was that car behind me, what would my reaction have been? Would I have been so generous with something so small?

Being completely and embarassingly honest, I would not have. I would have grumbled and complained that there was an idiot in front of me and they should know they have to pay a toll and if they can’t its their fault they are getting charged so much and they should really get out of MY way because I have places to be. Really? REALLY. This reality hurt. A lot. And it was a defining moment. A moment where I could go on with life as normal OR I could learn from what was just revealed to me about myself and make a change. So I am making a change.

In an effort to pay it forward, my first step is to offer it on this blog. I am going to give a free photo session away. This session includes 1 hour of shooting time and the DVD of edited images. You don’t have to follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page or write me a really sweet note telling me how much you like my work (although all of those things would be nice ). Just simply leave a comment below and tell me what kind of session you would like. Any kind of session you want- family, senior, anniversary, maternity, newborn, band, portfolio, etc. Spread the word! If you don’t need a session, use this opportunity to enter someone you know who would like one. The winner will be picked at random on September 7.

Several years ago, I bought a pair of pants. They were awesome pants and I really really really needed them for work… righhhht. They were expensive. Well, expensive to me. I think they were around $90. A few months later, a friend and I were shopping and the exact same pair of pants had been marked down to $19.99!  Needless to say she bought them and I learned a very valuable lesson that now shapes my shopping style.

I rarely pay full price for anything. If I am patient, it will usually go on sale. Plus it gives me time to determine whether it was an impulse purchase or if I really like it. After about 6 months of the above mentioned pants I didn’t even like them anymore and never wore them again.

Three years ago. I really wanted a white watch. Really really wanted it. It was before they were in style so they were hard to find and expensive. After extensive searching I found one that I LOVED. The catch was it’s price tag read $150. I came up with every reason I could think of to go ahead and buy that watch. But in the end, my pants philosophy won and I decided not to buy the trendy item.

6 months ago I was shopping at Nordstrom Rack and a wide array of watches were sitting on a table. I walked over just to have a look and sure enough THE watch was sitting on the table. There were about 5 of them in fact. At 65% off! You would think that I would have bought it and never looked back, but instead I questioned, reasoned and said no once again to the watch. A few days later I decided to go and get it. Only when I went to the table full of watches, this one was missing. They were gone.

Since that time, every time I am in that store I stop by the table to see if there happens to be a white watch sitting there. About 2 weeks ago, as I was making my routine follow up visit, it was as if I was in a dark room and in the distance a small, single light illuminated the pink box in the center of the table. As quickly as I saw the  box, I made my way to the table, trying not to look like a wild woman. As went around to the front of the table, trying to look at the contents inside, there IT sat. THE watch. I stopped and smiled to myself, then snatched it up as quick as my hands could grasp it, walked straight over to the register, and purchased my white watch.

Just remember when shopping…Everything goes on sale sometime.

As a child, if there was a dream, I dreamt it. If there was a game, I was all up in it (Ms.Competitive here). And if there was a career, well I wanted to do it. In the midst of of wanting to be an actress, singer, flight attendant, artist, buyer, fashion designer, stylist, wedding planner, etc. I went through a serious stint of wanting to be a teacher. I had my own classroom set up in the basement, complete with chalkboard, whiteboard, the road light(for discipline), teacher edition books and worksheets. I made my friends come and pretend to be students while I acted like I had something to teach. I even assigned homework. Yea…my friends probably hated me. Geez I’m so embarrassed at myself. But, alas! They were willing to sit through it and amuse me. They were good friends. If you’re reading this and I made you do homework…thanks for being my friend…even after homework.

I write this post because after graduating college I went through a similar journey of discovering what my purpose was. I wrestled with wanting a successful career and doing something I loved, doing something with purpose. This journey led me to Real Estate. At the time, I was never so sure of something and God’s hand in my life. So when I made the decision to leave it, I was utterly confused. I found myself loathing a business I previously loved and was so sure of. I questioned God’s voice in it all. I decided to move forward and see where the road would take me. Since I never pursued it, but always wondered, I thought it was teaching. That door was slammed shut. Hard.

Photography. I thought about it, but never thought I would be good enough to earn a living. Never thought it would be more than a hobby. So I shut it down. Only to my surprise, that door was swung wide open. It has been a journey to say the least, but I now see how all the things I learned in real estate factor into running my own business. It was one of those “Oh now I see!” moments.

I know I love it more than anything because if I didn’t I would have quit by now. I read countless blogs of photographers warning others to stay out of photography unless you really love it and you couldn’t see yourself doing anything else. I had never felt that before.

A few weeks ago I was discouraged and overwhelmed and seriously contemplated whether or not this was right for me. So I took some time and thought about it…and I love it too much. I can’t see myself doing anything else.

A few days after this decision I was cleaning out some stuff and found some pieces of a vision board I started about 4 years ago, right when I was going into real estate. I found the below image and quietly laughed to myself. I don’t remember making this or even putting it together. But the timing of it all just fits.

I by no means have it all figured out and am still on the front end of my dream, but I encourage anyone reading this to go after it. Whatever it is, at least try it. You might be surprised at the outcome. Find something you love so much you couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
And that’s my 2 cents worth.