you are lucky to be so creative.

I've had people say this to me many times. The thing is...we all have it within us to create something amazing and beautiful. I've believed that for a long time...and this clip backs me up on that belief. :)

We are ALL creative.

Last week, I had someone write me a heartfelt letter.  I wrote a lengthy note in return and in that note I wrote these few sentences:

"All of us have been through similar things and at the same time we all have a different set of circumstances. You are a woman of strength with something special and unique to bring to the table of life. Trust in that. Believe that you have something that no one else does that will bless the people around you.  You have special gifts, find them, nurture them, and believe YOU."

I'm including them here because I believe that all of us have creative potential within us.  There is a beauty within each person that is different from all the rest.  Women all express that differently. 

Maybe it's in the way you have patience with a child, the perspective from which you see the world, the way you can always say the right thing, the ability to be a diplomat in difficult situations, the way you see color, the magical way you put clothes together, that you can manage to get 3 loads of laundry, dinner on the table, and a baby diaper changed all at the same time, when you teach, people are touched by what you say and moved to action, you sense immediately when a person's mood changes and know what to do, you know when not to speak and when to listen....

All of these things and more are ways we create...art, relationships, happy homes, beauty, love, understanding, hope, giving...

Believe YOU.  Believe that you are creative.  Give into the part of you that wishes you were creative and know that you already are.  Start to see it... 

creative. LIFE.

*Share this with a friend*

don't quit.

So over the last few weeks I've been kind of lax about what I eat and how hard I exercise. It hasn't really shown on the scale at all. I've been thinking, "Oh yay! My metabolism is still keeping up." I hadn't LOST any weight but I hadn't really gained any either.

Well...this past week all of that caught up with me. I exercised a little better and a little harder this week than I had been and tried a little not to eat so much. On Saturday, though, we went to the Clover St. Patrick's Day Fair and ate funnel cakes and pizza and cotton candy.

That put me over the top. I have officially gained some weight.

So...today I went out and busted it on the track and went 3 miles and did 6 sprints. I also am having a lunch without the fat free chips that I love.

It's now time for me to get serious again and get this last 15 pounds off. So I'm doing it. Less food, more exercise. Speaking of the exercise bit...I have become a little wimp about doing my strength training...my arms are looking like relief society arms again. Time to amp up the weights on my triceps!! So I also did some pushups and situps today. Tomorrow I'll be working my triceps with the full three reps of weights instead of the wimp out one rep I've been doing lately.

SO...All of you who have wimped out this month...you know who you are....

Just because you haven't been posting every day that you work out this month don't lose heart. Remember that there is a bigger contest going on to get you healthy.  (Not to mention that swimsuit season is coming up...and you KNOW you want to go to the pool...)  The yearly contest counts too! Remember the details? Don't give up posting as often as possible:

Contest for this year:

The winner will receive a full day with me. It can be a Day with Davina or it can be a full day of a photo session with me. You get to choose. It will also include other goodies that we will add onto the winner's package through out the year. You will want to win this!

To win:

*Be the person that posts the most often on Move it Monday through out the entire year.

*Keep a journal and have at least 12 entries by the end of the year. (That's just one per month...this is about getting some consistent habits.)

*Check in every week on Move it Monday comments.

*Get 20 minutes of exercise at least 4 days a week.

*Start eating off of smaller plates...or at least eat much smaller portions at every meal.

Now, I know that you can't do this every single day of your life. Take it a day at a time. Do the best you can. Don't give up. The person that does the best at developing consistency will be the winner. It's not really about being the one that loses the most weight (although I think that it will be a natural thing that will happen) it's about changing your approach to food and moving your body.

Get back in the contest!  Do it for YOU!

healthy. LIFE.

almost there.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been voting everyday!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Only 10 days left until the contest is over.  Join the voting every day by clicking here:

Vote here.

And thank you to everyone who has written to me in the comments of the competition.  I really appreciate you taking the time to write a note to me!

fun. LIFE.

more to come.

The LAST MINUTE. kit. is almost ready.  We'll be releasing it next week instead of this week.

We've had a lot of people asking us if the GTKY. kit. includes questionnaires for High School Senior Shoots and Family Lifestyle Sessions.  It doesn't.  So...we've decided to add those questionnaires to the LAST MINUTE. kit.  That means that we'll be releasing a little later than originally planned.

This is a great kit!  I think you're going to love it!

fun. LIFE.

sweet.

I loved getting to hang out with Jessica and Caleb for a few minutes one evening and just grab a couple of images of Julia just before the long night ahead of them got started.

Having a baby changes so many things!  I had been to Jessica and Caleb's house before they had Julia and it was so much different this time around.  You could tell that there wasn't very much sleep happening and that days were spent changing diapers and walking the house and feeding Julia.  Here we caught Julia for a few quick moments before she got fussy for the evening...like I know all of my babies liked to do!

And even though life has become so different for Jessica and Caleb you can tell in the way that Caleb interacts with and holds Julia that he is totally in love with her and in the way that Jessica can't stop smiling when she looks at Julia.

new. FAMILY.