love. LIFE. Hello Friends! Over to the left you'll see all of the categories that you can check out. If you're a photographer make sure to check out the For Photographers page. I just launched the new Family GTKY kit and the NEW Insight Kits Blogsite!!! Click here to see the new site! LOVE. LIFE. TIPS. These posts will help anyone who is trying to keep or get back all of the things that they love in their life and/or business. The tips are packed with ways to manage a hectic life, kids, business, meaning, love...and more. Also, make sure you check out the new Women and Business series! (Click here) Also, see how Day with Davina can come to you. (Click here) My favorite pricing guide (that I wish I had when I started my business over 8 years ago). You need this guide! Easy as Pie. Click here to visit Served Up Fresh. (affiliate link) Thanks for stopping by...and don't forget to leave a comment...or two...I want to hear from YOU! And make sure to TELL A FRIEND! |
Entries by Davina (749)
me. self portrait.


the real thing.
I've got some new projects in the works this month. One of them will be launching on Thursday and you won't want to miss it...especially if you're a mom with a business (hint: I'm in cahoots with some other women).
The other project is me. After seeing my friend, Kelly Moore, do an stunning self portrait session I decided that there just aren't enough pictures in the world of me for my kids. There aren't pictures of the every day, mundane things that I do with them...the things that really mean something...the things that if they didn't happen or if I wasn't here they'd be missed the most. A lot of it is just me being a mom, me just being around, me just being here. Doing the same ol' ol'.
Really, though, life is made up of the just being there for someone...through the ins and the outs, the ups and the downs. So I want my kids to see that I've been there in the little ways...that we've had fun together, that I've done the being there things. I also just want them always be able to see me in case for some reason they don't. I don't want to be just this faceless person on the other side of the camera that came out from behind it for the occassional shot.
So...this month is about self portraits of me doing what I do every day. I won't always look pretty or cute or whatever. But it will be me doing what I do to just to get through the day.
So tonight I made cookies for the kids and we read. We actually finished The Giver tonight and I have to admit I got a little choked up. We had big conversations about the ending and I loved sitting around talking about it. I love that when we read my kids end up just all over the place around me...especially when we read on a Sunday after church.
Because we have a 40 minute drive to church these days the kids always bring the book we've been reading so that I can read it in the car. When we get home from church I never do get out of my dress because we walk in the door and they are already saying, "Don't stop Mom! Keep reading! We have to know what's going to happen!" So I sit on the couch and read and read. The kids lay around me and eventually we finish and then we talk about it the rest of the night.
Tomorrow the kids will each probably come up to me at some point in the day and talk to me about Jonas and baby Gabe and do I really think that the book ended....(I won't say HOW it ended for those of you who are going to read it...and you totally should!). But they will talk about it tomorrow...and I love the talking. I love that they think and wonder about the characters in the books we read. I love that they're concerned and that they want the people we've come to love to feel the things that they feel.
It's beautiful. I loved sitting around the table eating cookies and just being together.
So...here's me today...still in my Sunday dress...reading and making cookies...feeling like I just had a perfect episode of "Leave it to Beaver"- with- June- Cleaver- Sunday -afternoon.
perfect. LIFE.
My Favorite time of the Night.



perfect hour of the day.
Nights can be a chaotic, crazy time. Hopefully, before dinner, the house was straightened up and we've had a pretty calm dinner discussing the best and the worst of the day. Then it's time to get into pjs, brush teeth, have a scripture story, song, and prayer. I love all of this time. So much of the evening ends up being a time to get things done. So by the time the time everyone is in their pjs and we've had our devotional time we're all feeling a little more calm.
About that time we start reading...and it feels...magical.
Right now we're reading "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. If you've not read this book, it's amazing. The thing about reading outloud to the kids when everyone is settled into their beds is the opportunity we get to talk about all kinds of things. Books bring up topics that you may not think to talk about in normal every day life. I also love that it gives us a chance to go into more depth about things we have talked about before.
This book is about a community that believes it's achieved the perfect society. In order to arrive at this perfection they've had to make sure everything is the same, no differences, only 'sameness'. What that means is completely surprising.
Every time the kids find out about something that is missing from this 'perfect' community they are shocked to find that such a simple joy or pain doesn't exist for them. It has given us all a new appreciation for seemingly little, wonderful things around us...sunshine, red apples, beautiful fabric, snow, eyes, the wonder of being a teenager, family, and love.
All of my kids get nestled into their beds and I sit and read. Occassionally all of their heads will pop up at the same time to say, "No way!" Other times, everyone will be very quiet, feeling every word that I read, holding on to every emotion that a character is feeling. I love how invested they get into the characters. Often they will come up to me in the middle of the day and wonder what is going to happen next and say that they can't wait to read again tonight to find out what is going to happen. There have been times when they will bring me the book in the middle of the day and say, "Please read right now. We have to know what happens to Jonas..."
There are nights that we end up reading really late because every time I say, "And we'll stop there for tonight." The kids all say in unison, "No! One more chapter."
Other nights, we'll get to the end of reading and a couple of the kids will have dozed off taking the characters in the book with them as they drift into dreamland.
It's my favorite hour or so of the day. Faces intent, perplexed, joyous, excited, worried...and then quiet...sweet quiet in the place between awakeness and sleeping.
Once the book is over, as most of you know who follow my blog, I get to lay in the peaceful dark and talk to each of my kids individually. I listen to their day, their little secrets, their moments that they've saved out from the day until now to share...it's a peaceful, wonderful bliss.
And the perfect way to end any day.
sweet. LIFE.
LOVE. LIFE. TIP #15
make time.
As most of you know I've been on a kind of crusade of sorts to get my life back after becoming overwhelmed and overworked as I tried to get a business going...then get it to grow up.
In the meantime it seemed like I'd missed my kids growing up. They're not that old but missing just a little bit ends up feeling like I've missed a lifetime. In truth, to get a business started and then growing there are certain things you have to give up. Opportunity costs. Whether you do it knowingly or not it still happens. You give something up when you decide to pursue something else.
When you finally realize that there were opportunity costs that you didn't count on...there are regrets. Some of them small. Some of them big. Even though you've loved what you've been doing you realize you've missed some things.
I gave up a lot of time with my family and when I realized what I was doing I took a step back. I cut back. I reorganized. I charged a little more. I spent less. I became more focused. I worked less. I played more. I changed.
As this year comes to a close and new one opens up before me, I'm looking back at a year I've really loved in so many ways. I'm also looking forward to a yeat that will be different and wonderful and exciting.
As you can see from my blog, I've cut back on the amount of shooting. I've gotten to teach more (which I love), I've had the time for some fabulous friendships, I've spent more time with my little family, we've moved across the country, I've had parties, been apart of Thirst Relief, been blessed to meet and been changed by Saylor and Becky, had a great time working with wonderful clients and been part of their lives...they're more like friends, to me. It's been a really incredible year. A year with no regrets. A year of meaning. A year of fun. A year of growth. A year of change. A year of adventure.
This year was a year of no regrets because I made time. I opened up my life to my own moments. For the past couple of years I've worked at balance, at loving life, and this year has shown me the fruits of those labors.
In an industry like photography things change every second. A new camera, a new look, a new this, a new that...it's easy to be swept up in the current and be carried away on it.
I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've had fewer clients lately. That's been a conscious decision and one that will continue into the coming year. I'm being extremely selective about the work and commissions that I take. I want the clients that I work with, the friends that I have, and my family to know that I'm invested in them.
To me, that means making time.
My youngest goes to kindergarten in the fall...and here in South Carolina that means a full day of kindergarten. I wasn't ready for that news. I thought that I'd have another year and 1/2 with her and now it feels like I'm losing 1/2 a year...so I want to make time for her. I've also wanted to make sure that I'm here for my kids in South Carolina before I throw myself back into business. I want them to feel safe and confident.
I'm so excited about this year! I'll still be doing what I've been doing...it will just be limited and selective. You can still register for Day with Davina, keep up with Move it Monday, stay tuned for more new products, and everything else here on the blog.
I want to hear what you're going to do to make more space in your life.
(And once you've created some space in your busy schedule...what are you going to do with it? Sit and enjoy the silence? Sky dive? Visit a friend?)
In case you're not sure...here are some ideas for the coming year.
Ways you can add meaning and fun back into your overworked life:
*Stop watching TV at night.
*Journal at least once a week. (You know I couldn't resist that one!)
*Commit to no computer time for a specified time each day.
*Go on a date at least once a week with your spouse.
*Have a weekly family game night.
*Invite your neighbors over for dessert once a month.
*Pray as a family before leaving the house in the morning.
*Take each of your kids on a special date once a month.
*Plan a quarterly night out with your girlfriends.
*Be home everyday (and off of your computer) before your kids and/or spouse gets home. Greet them with an "I'm glad you're home", a smile, and a hug. (This may seem corny but you'd be surprised at what a big difference this little thing makes to the rest of your evening.)
*Sit and listen to how your loved ones' day went when they arrive home.
*Eat dinner as a family (or with close friends) a few nights a week.
*Sit on the couch with the windows open and just listen to the rain...or go out and play in it.
*Drop by a friend's house for coffee or hot chocolate or something. (James Dobson talks about how we've lost our sense of community...no one just drops by anyone's house for tea, or cookies, and then sits and chats away the afternoon talking about "nothing and everything". We're all too busy for real life and the living, breathing person next to us.)
*Laugh about all of the silly things that have happened this year. Just sit around and tell the stories to each other.
*Make time for the people in your life. Stop networking and start thinking about having meaningful relationships.
*Sit around the table with friends and talk until late at night.
What do you think?
love. LIFE.
The 9-inch Diet



too true.
For part of our date on Saturday night, my husband and I went to Barnes and Noble. While I was there I discovered this book, The 9-inch "diet". I love this book.
I think I'm just excited to find a book that goes along with what I've been doing. I put less on my plate and the try to leave a little there every time I eat. I think it's one of the keys to me losing weight.
So much of losing weight is just having a little bit of discipline over time. Just doing something small and then sticking with it will alter the shape of your body.
Alex Bogusky says that the reason that Americans are so overweight is because our plates have gotten bigger over the past 50+ years. Literally. They have really gotten bigger. In the 1950s plates were only 9 inches. (This was a total surprise to me! I've been out looking for vintage plates and been wondering where the dinner plates were! The dinner plates were 9 inches...so I've been seeing them all along.) Now our dessert plates are 9 inches! Is that crazy?!?
Alex says that we've as Americans have gotten bigger in direct proportion to how much bigger our plates have gotten...so eat off of a 9 inch plate (don't heap it full of food) and you'll lose weight. Of course, he goes into much more detail so you should get the book. I love the way the book is designed, the amount of pictures, and the way Alex writes. It's easy and fun to read and it is full of common sense.
The 9-inch "diet" is not a diet. Alex says that over and over again in the book. It's just a simple perspective change in the way you eat and how much you eat. It's the way you eat for the rest of your life. Eat for dinner on the size plate you eat for dessert and you'll change your eating habits.
A few other points I love from his book:
*The French are thinner than Americans. At first researchers thought that the reason for that was because they consummed red wine with their cheese and red meat. What is really the case is just that they eat less of it than we Americans do...they eat off of 9 inch plates. Most people in Europe eat off of smaller plates. It's Americans that think bigger plates are better.
*An order of fries in England is a very small plate with about 10 fries on it...compare that with the supersize fries from McDonalds. That's a big difference!
This book is an encouraging look at losing weight and keeping it off. It's worked for me. Just eating your food in much smaller portions and not having seconds will make a huge difference. It's one of the ways that I've lost 20 pounds in the last few months. The thing I love about the way I've been losing is that it has changed the way I look at food, it's do-able, and it's something that I can do anywhere.
Just make small changes. Decide to eat off of a smaller plate, when you have dessert just eat 1/2 of what you'd usually eat, go for a 20 minute walk everyday, and instead of asking your kids to run up stairs and get you something...you run upstairs to get it.
We all say it and it's true...it's the little things that make the difference.
What little things are you going to do this year?
new. LIFE.
Seven Pounds Movie. SPOILER.
crazy bad.
I just got home from seeing Seven Pounds and I have to say I couldn't be more disappointed in a movie. I love Will Smith. I think he is an amazing actor and he seems to be an even better person...but he really missed the mark on picking this film.
This movie is over the top in sentimentality and makes almost no sense. I also think it glamorized and glorified suicide and makes something selfish and sad look selfless. I really had a hard time believing the whole premise of the movie and even had a difficult time trying to figure out what the actual message was.
I was hoping for an inspirational, moving, beautiful, life-affirming type of movie and and was left saying, "WHAT?" I've never seen people hop out of their seats faster to leave a movie and even saw some people get up and exit in the middle.
The acting was great but the film itself was just bad. I have no idea how the screenplay even made it to production. What was Will thinking?
I really wanted this to be a great movie. I wanted to believe in it and even suspended reality a number of times trying to just enjoy the idea and direction of the movie. I knew what was happening from the beginning and was just hoping that there was going to be some unexpected twist that would make sense of everything in a very meaningful way.
No such luck. Will Smith's character kills himself and it's supposed to be a good thing...I'm speechless.
Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?
bummer.