Joy Found

"Once you find your JOY, Everything beautiful is born from it."

This quote is at the top of my friend Tonya's blog. I love it. I stole it and used it on our Christmas card. A variation of it is at the top of this blog. What I love most about Tonya, is that she knows how to find JOY and capture it. And not just with her camera.

It took me MONTHS to pick my favorites from our photo shoot with Tonya Joy. I was embarassed it took so long. Even more so when, once I had finally made my selections and put together my order...she had the edited files to me on a beautifully packaged disc in less than a week! If you live in the Southern California area and need your pictures taken...you must contact Tonya Joy! She is a genius with the camera and has a way of bringing out the best in her subjects. She also captures natural light and color like she was born to do so.

If she can make me look like this....imagine what she can do for you!

Here are some more of my favorites from our shoot:

Remember this photo from our first shoot with Tonya?

It was my blog header for a long time...

Well...here is this year's edition!

I can't wait to take this picture over and over throughout the years.

My RAD friend, Laura, recently packaged up her Canon Rebel and sent it to me to "test drive." She knew I was wanting an SLR camera and thought it might help me if I had one to carry around and use for a bit before I spent the big bucks. Let me tell you...I AM SO THANKFUL for Laura's sweet offer and helpful, generous spirit. Because I have discovered that I don't really want an SLR afterall! It's just not for me.

I appreciate awesome photography, and for sure, the pics from Laura's camera are WAY better than I can capture with my ancient Elph...but photography is not my passion. I don't have the patience to lug around the big camera, remember the lens cap, be a freak about not dropping it. I much prefer the camera that fits in my pocket, has only one button to push, and can hold its own in my purse along with old granola bars and fruit gummies.

So Thank You Laura!! You just saved me a boat load of cash. Instead of buying my own camera I'll never take the time to learn...I think I'll save the money for Tonya to keep capturing us Bringing Up. I can't believe it's almost time to do it again.

(I made the tops the girls and I wore in the photo shoot. My tank has sold a dozen times over in my Etsy shop! If you love it too...it's your lucky day. I'm giving one away over on SheyB's blog in honor of her birthday. Check it out! I've also added a ton of new stuff to the shop over the past few days...so Check THAT out too!)