Christina's Blog

I love playing with word clouds and thought I’d share the cloud made from my “about me” page here on my blog – this is just from the section where I describe my style of photography.  I love it!

Word Cloud designed by Wordle

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought it would be fun to share my Top 10 list of “Things You Don’t Realize Until You Become a Mother” (and sometimes not until you’ve been a mother for many years…)

10.  Mother’s Day should really be a whole weekend!

9.  Deep sleep is just a dream you once had… you know, when you used to sleep deeply.

8.  Toilet paper should always be bought in bulk.

7.  You certainly can’t protect your children from everything, but no amount of hearing that phrase will ever change your instinct to do so.

6.  There is a big difference between ‘asking” and “telling”.

5.  Socks really do mysteriously disappear in the dryer.

4.  No two children are alike, and some aren’t even like themselves half the time.

3.  Laundry day is a misnomer.

2.  Getting out the door takes an additional 15 minutes per child, more if your husband is helping.

1.  There is nothing more powerful, heart-filling, soul-shaking, mind-bending, ever-lasting, or beautiful than the love a mother has for her child.

I wish every mother on the planet a wonderful Mother’s Day full of warmth and laughter and special, cherished memories.  We may each speak different languages, celebrate different holidays, make different choices, or have different parenting methods but we are united by this gift of motherhood and I’d like to think we all cherish it in our own ways.

And to my own two children… Jillian and Zander, you have been the most amazing things to ever happen to me and I am without words to express how much I love you both.  To the moon and back, again and again…

I was recently asked to photograph a Beads of Courage training event at NC Children’s Hospital for Striving for More, Inc (one of my favorite non-profits to help!)   For those of you not familiar with Striving for More, they are a local non-profit organization founded by Cary resident Diane Moore after losing her daughter to cancer in 2008.  Witnessing first-hand the true lack of emotional support services in place for most families dealing with childhood cancer, Diane established this organization to encourage and fund services such as the Beads of Courage program.  Beads of Courage is a non-profit organization that encourages children to use colorful beads to document their own personal journey with cancer including their treatments, procedures, and hospital stays.  There are only 3 other hospitals in North Carolina that currently have this program in place, so it is very exciting that Striving for More has helped bring it to the NC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill!  I am sharing a few of my favorite images from the training sessions held in February.

Approximately 12,500 children are diagnosed with cancer annually in the United States.  Please take a moment to visit Striving for More online and read more about Diane’s story at her blog.  You can learn more about the Beads of Courage program online as well – please share these valuable resources with family and friends who may be in need of such support.

Striving for More – Beads of Courage – NC Children’s Hospital