{Thankful Thursday}

• I am thankful...
• That when my daughter draws pictures of our family she gives me green eyes and ridiculously long eye lashes.
• For Pizza Hut on a Thursday night with the three people I love the most.
• For beautiful families and people that pay me to photograph them and document their journeys. What an honor.
• For church groups and Bible studies that get me out of the house and into the relativity that beckons from listening to other women share about their lives.
• For hearing my Grandma call me "Honeybunch" when she answers the phone and knows it's me. How I love her so.
• For something so simple as cutting my daughter's hair that makes her beam from ear to ear.
• For hearing my son name off every sports player known to man. He knows his stuff and it makes me proud   b/c I know none of it.
• For small McDonalds Hot Mocha's with whole milk and whip on the way home from Another Smalltown, USA.
• For bedtime and my big comfy, warm, soft bed... and a big teddy bear to cuddle with named Adrian.

{This all...}

I read something today that really just.. resonated deep. You know.. you do that sometimes, read things that you really relate to, understand. That parallel that is just not one skew off, but similar for miles.

But first...

Today was one of those days that I really didn't feel like getting up, getting the kids on the bus or starting a Monday. In all honesty it was a bad start. I knew I had e-mails to respond to, photos to sort, you name it. But... my house was a wreck. And internally? This girl can only take so much before the breakdown starts. Oh yeah, it started. I broke down. Got out the bleach and rubber gloves, had my way with every toilet and sink and still felt ... oy. {I'm really not OCD.} Quit laughing. I'm not. :) Knowing my house is clean brings... like internal peace. Any sisters out there relate to this nonsense? I'd like a rewire please!

So back to where I was...

Two GOOD things happened today in the middle of my hot-mess-break-down-at-home:

a) First I realized Jasmine Star {yes, THE Jasmine Star} took the time to stop by and comment here on the post I wrote about her. Is she not the absolute most dynamite ROCKSTAR photographer ever? The people in life that make the deepest impressions on us are the ones that do it without motive. When you are as monumental in your career as she is - you don't need to stop by peon photographer's blogs like mine. But she did, and that's legit. Hey, she keeps it real. She's the perfect stand-out combination of demureness & determination. I really admire her.

b) Another woman I admire? Mary. One of the women that encouraged me and mentored me years ago to do what I do today - she wrote something that truly influenced me. Stellar, relative and heart-filled. Here's the link if you'd like to read it: Mary's blog. So back to where I began this post...

Oh I love this job. Like no job I've ever had. Reallllllly like being my own boss. Cept that sometimes I over-work myself without mercy until my anarchy side takes over and at 1 am screams: "ENOUGH! Go to bed child!" But honestly - most days it's a lot of time with this here Mac computer & One-Man-Band. Sorting. Editing. Posting. Blogging. Uploading. Archiving. Emailing. Responding. Repeat this like 20x in no particular order. It's kinda chaotic sometimes, but I am happy to say it's what I get to do.


Revered that this is what I do. Capturing peoples lives?  What an observation of true reward! Nothing I've ever done creatively in an artistic field of 14 years has filled my heart like this. When a bride hugs me at the end of that exhilarating, exhausting day - I know I've done my job. When a mom calls me and tells me her photos made her cry {in a good way!} I know I've done my job. Maybe the reason I love this job is because of the emotion that photography occupies. I am emotive in how I write, how I see things, how I communicate.

My job is to capture emotion. To envelop sweet sentiments ... stirring memory to warm the heart.
A special heart. Someone that I've never met but will appreciate for one aspect or another... even if it's as simple as just sharing the humanity of life.

This is why I love doing what I do. It is why I pull the late nights and skipped girl's nights - It's why coffee and I are like this *index and middle entwined*. It's why I feel absolutely sufficed and equally determined. It's my bubble. My castle in the air. It's 24/7, kinda messy sometimes and jacked on coffee, but it's all mine.


Until you know where you belong, you'll dream of what you never had. Live your dreams. :)

{Taddeo Family}

I met the Taddeo family awhile back through a mutual friend. Great people. We met at the park on a Sunday afternoon for a family shoot - which really is just a big play session b/c I just get on the ground and play with the camera while the kids are playing with mom and dad. For some odd reason there were a lot of bugs in the air and on the ground that day but everyone managed to escape unscathed or bitten! Overall it was a great session and the kids put up with me longer than I expected them to for their ages, sweet kiddos! I couldn't help but crack up at some of the kids expressions and how adorable they all are. Especially baby girl - she's gonna have two brothers AND a dad to fend off the boys someday!

Thanks guys! Really enjoyed it. :) Here are a few of my favorites.

{Maddie's Senior Pictures}

Maddie is one of those all american classically beautiful girls. Any pose, just about any direction is flattering to this girl! I always find people to resemble SOMEONE in Hollywood - you all have your little bit of somebody! Maddie has a few starlets that she resembles. I see Jennifer Aniston in a big way & yes, Miley Cyrus. Not two bad people to resemble! I'm actually jealous about the Jen resemblance b/c I think she is one of the MOST beautiful women, like ever! So go Maddie!

Beyond the looks, this is a really sweet, grounded & centered girl - and she has a wonderful family supporting her as she's moving onto new endeavors in life. Isn't being a senior such an exciting time in life?

{Thankful Thursday}

Today has to be one of the most beautiful days of the year. It's warm, but not humid, breezy - sun is shining, it's absolutely perfect outside. I love Indian summer in Indiana. Everything is right at that end of that pivotal summer moment when the peak of harvest has past and the descent into cooler temps begins.

Warm breezy days like today remind me of how much I will miss summer when it's gone. But fall is the season I take comfort in most. It is my favorite. The only time that we really in nature see such colorful contrasts on the color wheel in the orange trees and blue skies... is fall.  It's like a mid-gap of awareness into the fact that you are transitioning between two very extreme seasons. That last little bit of recollection before we draw inside of ourselves and hunker down through the cold months.

• Thankful for seasons.
• Thankful that seasons change.
• Thankful for what each offers and how each is different.
• Thankful for deciduous trees that display beloved chroma - I could NOT do Florida and their green to brown changing leaves.
• Thankful for transition. 

Also...

• Lusine on Pandora while I work.
• Pandora.
• Lunch dates with Mr. Kaser.
• Mid-afternoon naps.
• Knowing today is not Friday, but feeling like every day is Friday.

{Mini-Sessions & Christmas Cards}

Fall and Winter Specials for 2010!

Go to Josephiney Photography on Facebook to learn more.

{The Holland Family}

This sweet family was so much fun to photograph! The kids had me cracking up! Lots of laughter in general! I've known them for several years now and in all honesty - they are the only reason I even know about this small wonderful town I live in! And I think from the moment we talked about it - they had me sold on living here!

They were totally game for their shoot and obliged to all of my ideas! Beautiful family - comical and so loving. Interactions just genuine and real. Love that about them. Sweet, sweet people.

Thanks guys for allowing me to photograph your precious family and capture a little bit of your life ... together. :)

{Manic Monday & .. Monarchs}

Monday = catch up day.
Had such a busy weekend - Jasmine Star Thursday in Chicago - Friday all day editing - Saturday a wedding - Sunday an Engagement session at a firestation AND the beach. I've been kinda.. gone! The catbox let me know of my absence this morning when I changed it, trust me. 


Shattered my iphone yesterday and it's still working. I can feel the glass cracks as I slide my finger around the surface.. nice Jo. Nice. That darn phone is so fragile - and Steve Jobs you gotta know I love me some iphone but couldn't you have made that thing just a wee bit more durable for clumsy nuts like me? Oh Apple - and third iphone on it's way to me - but how I still love thee.

I had the coolest thing happen at that wedding on Saturday...

I can't tell you how many times I have been photographing and a monarch butterfly flutters past me. It's personal, and frivolous maybe... but when I see a butterfly - a monarch specifically - it's just a little moment I take to remember my sister and say to myself...

Thanks Jess.... thanks for sending that to say hi today. Thanks for letting me know that you are still near me, guiding me, that I'm on the right path, doing what I love and that I took a chance in fear and faith knowing out of your loss that life is so short - but I am happier today than I have ever been because of that risk ... and I miss you sweet girl.

This butterfly let me snap a few pictures of it - so beautiful. And yes, I did verbally thank it for blessing my day. I'm sure the nearby guests were entertained that I talk to butterflies.

Thought provoking. But definitely not fortuitous. Purpose in everything... always. 

Always amusing to think about how Creation is used to remind us of who we are and where we are going.

{Baby Henry} Newborn Session

Henry was just the most pleasant little guy - he really didn't mind me moving him around too much, didn't fuss and was soooo cooperative. :) His Mom and Grandma had a great idea with Oh Henry Candy bars - super cute idea! Henry was wide awake until we got him sleepy in the swing and then topped it off with a nice comfy round basket full of soft blankies. :) And then it became ... naptime. :) Loved this little guy's room and his mom's idea for the photo in his adorable toy chest! I have to say though that I always love mom and baby poses and some of the ones I took at the very end of this session are the absolute favorites for me! Henry's mom, Cami is naturally so gorgeous and I couldn't help but really adore the pictures of them relaxing together - isn't that one of the most precious things when you have little, little ones.. napping with your baby? I think so. :) When I left the session Cami and her Mom handed me 3 candy bars, one for me and one for my kiddos. I had never had one of those before but just like a sweet baby - I enjoyed each little bit of it! :)