PAMPERED CHEF FUNDRAISER!

Hi you guys! Did you miss me? I assure you I didn't fall off the face of the Earth. I have actually been VERY VERY busy! (YAY!)

Do you remember last year when I announced that our family is adopting from Ethiopia? Well, a lot has happened since that announcement! We suffered some real lows. Our agency informed us that our wait time would be over THREE YEARS! So, we researched some other agencies, and I am almost 100% sure of the new agency that I want to go with, and their wait times are about a year! Yay!

So, we are back on the fundraising wagon, and yesterday on my facebook page, I asked for any help anyone could give me with ideas for fundraisers, and do you know what happened?! A very kind and generous person named Naomi sent me a message and offered to hold a Pampered Chef party where ALL THE PROCEEDS FROM THE ONLINE PARTY GO TO OUR ADOPTION FUND! How amazing is that?!

I haven't spouted a lot about how much I love PAMPERED CHEF, because well, this is a photography blog, but I LOVE PAMPERED CHEF! I have a lot of their products that I honestly couldn't bake without!

So, if you are reading this, and you are interested in helping my family reach our goal of becoming a complete family, here is the information that you need:

This online party is going on from NOW until AUGUST 17TH! 

SHOP FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE! Don't worry about having to come to a show! Shop from home in your underwear!


1. Go to Naomi's website here:
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/naomiosuna

2. Browse through the amazing catalog of products.

3. Order the products you want.

4. When asked if you are shopping under a host, CLICK YES.

5. Enter my name, SUSAN MONSON.
(When you do that, ALL THE PROCEEDS FROM YOUR PURCHASE GO TO OUR ADOPTION FUND! How cool is that?!)

6. Then, ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME! 

I would love any support you can give to our family. And, any help spreading the word would be fantastic! Everyone loves food! And Pampered Chef makes it easier to make the things we love to devour! 

Thank you so much! And I am so overcome with gratitude that someone has been so generous and wonderful to me and my family, to give all the proceeds from the sale to our adoption. I am overcome.

Thank you so much!

Much Love,
Susan

Inspired by Art

I have long been inspired by art. When I was a little girl, I would spend HOURS and HOURS drawing. I was convinced that if I practiced enough I could make my dream of animating films for Disney a reality.

I was also OBSESSED with photo books. Particularly photo books that had a photojournalistic approach to pictures. I LOVED seeing life captured. I loved imagining who those people in the portraits were. I was always so moved by photography.

When I was 8 I fell in love with Pierre-Auguste Renoir. I loved his paintings and wanted to be just like him. I remember going to the local library and checking out a GIANT book filled with his paintings and going home and trying to duplicate his work. My favorites were the paintings of people doing ordinary things, like having a picnic. Just moments that are seemingly uneventful captured and immortalized forever. A mere glimpse in to the lives of others. I found it profoundly beautiful. (Of course I didn't know why I loved them, but I really did).

I always have been affected by art, and have striven to create my own. I am still trying.

I want to share with you some images that I find inspiring... Images and paintings created by artists.

(I do not have permission or copyright for these images, all are listed by name as I want to give credit where credit is due).

The Swing by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Migrant Mother by Dorthea Lange

The Tetons and the Snake River by Ansel Adams

Dali Atomicus by Philippe Halsman

Picasso draws a Centaur by Gjon Mili

Now, don't you just want to go out and CREATE something?! So much beauty and creativity!

With Love,
Susan

A little inspiration...

I wanted to share a little bit of some things that have left me inspired as of late. The first is a video of two of my favorite musicians, MATT COSTA AND JACK JOHNSON. I have long admired both of their music and Each of them separately has lifted my soul with his music. Music moves me and inspires me in a way that nothing else can. I am deeply affected by music, and when I find a personal connection in the music, my heart rejoices and I am left feeling completely and utterly inspired.

I have had the privilege of seeing both of these men perform, but never together. Well, when I stumbled across this video yesterday, you have to understand how happy it made me. They each have a different style that is unique and beautiful in it's own rite. However, when the two styles are blended, you have complete loveliness that to me is just about as perfect as you can get. Their voices together are so incredible. It seriously gives me chills. (Yes I love them that much).

The second is also a video, but it isn't a MUSIC video. It isn't about listening as much as it is about watching. Beauty is all around us, and sometimes we're lucky enough to see it. But we have to look and WANT to see it. I have to add a disclaimer in that I am TERRIFIED of birds. I think this experience would be frightening, and yet, I STILL found beauty in this. So much beauty. This is one of the greatest gifts we are given: LIFE. Living, breathing, life. This video brought tears to my eyes as I watched something I will probably NEVER witness captured on film. This very short film left me inspired to capture beauty and those fleeting moments that, if we hadn't witnessed them ourselves, we wouldn't believe.

The last is a link to a movie called I'm Here, that is about 30 or so minutes long, but I find SO beautiful. I first saw this a few years ago, and it left me feeling psyched to capture what it made me feel. The story of giving yourself completely for love, because the opposite, (loneliness) is much worse than losing yourself. It is a quirky, odd film by Spike Jonze, and as I have already said it is so beautiful. I cry every time I watch it, and even now, as I just think about it I start to feel a little emotional. I love everything about this movie.

I'M HERE (you must have the latest version of flash to enter the site).

So, those are a few things I have found inspirational, and I wanted to share them with you. What inspires you? GO FIND OUT!

With Love,
Susan

Camping with Mr. Z

He just does his thing, and I follow along with a camera, and sometimes... I get magic.

If you are interested in booking a session with me, please email me at susanmonsonphotography@gmail.com

He's 2 1/2!

This little...(ahem) I mean big boy is pretty much the sweetest child of all time. He is always such a wonderful subject to photograph. Please enjoy these pictures of Ez feeding the ducks on one of the colder days in Spring time, playing with bubbles and his daddy on a warmer day, and playing inside with his toys. They grow up so fast.

If you would like to book a session with me, please email me at susanmonsonphotography@gmail.com