Yearly Archives: 2014

It’s super soft and cozy.  It has the perfect combination of plush springy support and back restability!  It slides perfectly under the desk and allows me to scooch up close to the computer when editing!  I can squeeze me knees to my chest or sit crossed leg when I type out my e mails or skype with Tuck!  I can lounge back all the way to base and relax my back when pondering life’s questions!  Best of all, my feet touch actually touch the floor when I sit and need to be professional!

Welcome home my new office chair!  I’ve been searching for you for a long time!

I used to have a real office chair.. the kind that was black and leather and built for the office office.  It was creaky and sqeaky and it swiveled.  There was nothing pretty or fancy about it and it was cold all the time!

When Tuck and I started updating the office to make it more “me” so that my clients could come sit and chat about their sessions or their albums the one element that kept me searching was the chair!

I wanted it to be comfortable and cozy.  I wanted it to be professional but relaxed.  I had an entirely different idea in mind and I found that actually.  I went to pick it up from home goods on Monday… it was this perfect shade of sea foam blue.  It was dreamy and fit my branding colors to a tee.  There was just one problem… my feet were about a foot off the ground when I sat in it.  I looked like a little girl trying to be a big kid, at least that’s how I felt.  I sat in there chair for a half hour at Home Goods receiving the most strange looks from employees and shoppers!  Swinging my feet back and forth, I finally made the decision that the price point and the height was just too high and I walked away, leaving the chair still on display.

In my sadness I found myself at Target… because let’s face it Target is a happy place!  I was just browsing when I came across a gray/taupe chair that was subtle and yet kind of perfect!  I pulled it out and sat down… and it felt like home!

Now it IS home and although it’s not quite the chair I envisioned for my tiny little office space… it’s perfect for me!  I find myself wanting to come down and sit in it… it’s just THAT comfortable!

Now all I need to complete this office is a pop of color maybe in the way of a canvas or a giant print.. I’m not quite sure yet.  I need a good clean (sorry about the mess) and I need to sand and stain some furniture!

For now though… I will happily sit in my chair feet up or planted on the floor!

 

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When I worked at the surf shop and would go surfing with the crew that worked there I was given my first nick name that had nothing to do with my actual name.  Nick names are always kind of a big deal… and I had never had one that didn’t involve brookie, brookesie, brooklyn before.

For those of you who have lived in Virginia Beach or have visited Virginia Beach enough times… you also know we don’t have surf.  So.. to tell you that I was also intimidated sometimes to go out towards to jetty or into the deeper waters to catch the “waves” will validate this name (and is also a hugely embarrassing.)

So from that first day I went surfing with the gang from 17 th street with my yellow and purple surf board and still to this day.. I am known as Puddle Duck!  I like to stay in the shore break and ride that break all the way to the sand… hence puddle duck.

I can be fearless sometimes and usually it’s with things or situations that most people would find intimidating.  Other times I like to practice quite hesitancy, meaning you do it first and I’ll go last and even then I like to stick my toe in first!

Now that I have a Linc, I like to see what character traits he gets from me and which ones he takes after from Tuck.  Linc is the funniest little man and he has the best mixture of both of us.  He sometimes practices “quiet hesitancy as well” like with the sand box!  He won’t get in it and heaven forbid he trips… he will face plant before he puts his hands down, but by golly he will build a sand castle and smash that thing to bits getting his hands completely sandy as well as every other part of his body!

But he is also completely fearless too and will jump from the highest of places without a second thought.  He will climb a rock wall with one hand and scale a slide with ease.  He will be the first to dive head first in the water and he can dismount on the gymnastic rings in a full jackknife flip landing with superior form!

I love to watch him take on these tasks and see his reaction and which avenue he is going to take:  is he going to think this through with thoughtfulness and subtlety;  or is he going to blaze right through it like a bull?!

Just the other day in a brief break from a rainy spell I dressed him up in all his rain gear, grabbed my camera and took him outside to see what he would do!

These are the days I live for as a mom!

He walked up and down the driveway at first… pondering and thinking.  He pointed out all the birds and all the beautiful things we forget to take in and notice as adults but children see with such wonder!

Then he found it… the giant puddle!  He took after it and literally DOVE in it, face first!  We had a moment of panic when face met the cement but tough little cookie he is… he brushed me aside and for hours he just jumped and stomped and splashed!

Just like his momma… my little boy is also a puddle duck!  But this little duck has the spirit and tenacity of lion just like his daddy!  He won’t be staying in the break for long.  It’s only a matter of time before this puddle duck takes on bigger waves!

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Getting in front of the camera… it’s something I rarely ever get to do, let alone feel comfortable doing!  I’m amazed at my clients and friends who love doing it!

Recently my girlfriend Elizabeth and I have been planning a little mommy and me session.  We’ve been planning for quite some time but it’s just been so hard.  Linc has been at the wonderful stage of explore explore explore (which is nice for saying not so cooperative).

Plus let me just be honest… these first few months since January have been rough for me and this adjustment period has been a weird one!

Elizabeth finally sat me down and said look girlfriend, I need some new updated work to showcase my skills right now for my new blog and upcoming website… please please just come with me this weekend and sit for like 10 minutes even!  It would really help me out!

In hindsight, what I think she was really saying was “Brooke, please get out of the house, get out of your rut and I’m doing this to help you see… visually see what you have right in front of you!  Help you to see who you are and who you used to be rather than this shell that you think you’ve turned into!”

At least… that’s what I gathered from our walk back to the car that night (and that’s without even seeing one single image yet).

This is why I love photography so very much.  It can take you to places and reveal to you things about yourself that you need to see but refuse to believe about yourself.  Things and character traits that other people see every day and just associate with you as soon as your name pops into their head but because we are our own worst critics… we just are blind to them!

I am a planner person.  I realized after having a baby that I love my schedules and I sometimes rigidly stick by them!  I am in a season of my life right now where I am realizing I don’t want to be this type of person and I most definitely don’t want to always be this type of mom.  Schedules are important don’t get me wrong and consistency is important for little ones;  but there is also a time for letting go and going with the flow!

I loved that Elizabeth helped me break into that type of mommy-hood!

On a whim, that saturday I packed Linc and Elizabeth in the car and we went for a picnic dinner date!  I didn’t worry about whether he would eat his dinner (which he didn’t… my kid is weird he wont’ do kid food so no pb and j for him, he prefers thai food or something that has peanut sauce on it or hummus!)  I didn’t worry about his bed time that night or his crazy allergies right now!

We just played and we played HARD!  We played well into the sunset hours and in doing so, I found my way back to this person that I was when I first met my husband:  playful and goofy and carefree… relaxed!  I found the person I have been fighting my way to get back to for so long now!

And you know what… this new mommy attitude has continued since that session and it’s just creating even more of special bond between me and my little Linc!

So please… the next time you are wondering if you should book that photo session that does cost quite a bit of money… I do understand that!  Or whether you should save it or spend it on something else… please remember MY story!

Remember how even though I capture these moments every day for people, I had an amazing AHA moment myself!  Remember that when I did get these images back and looked at them on the computer, I cried because I got to see the type of relationship I have with my son and how playful it is when sometimes I feel like all I do is say NO NO NO!  Remember how I when I saw these images I felt beautiful and graceful which is amazing because I am clumsy and goofy!

Just remember that I will have these memories… and remember how I feel right now for the rest of my life but the nail polish will chip… the dinner you might go to on a date night will only last a few hours and the movie will always make it to DVD.

These feelings are irreplaceable!  And they will always be here for me to look back and reflect on for as long as I am living.  What’s even more beautiful is that they will be here for Linc to look back and reflect on, leaving behind my legacy and also providing him with beautiful memories from his childhood!

What could be more priceless than that?!

And for the REAL mommy’s out there… the real LOVE snotty kisses are the BEST kisses!

Thank you so much Elizabeth for capturing these AMAZING photos for me!  I can not even express into words what they mean!

Love you much!

all photos courtesy of ElizabethFriskePhotography

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