Ah… to be a puppy.

Posey, 8 months old

She's cute, right? I think so, too. But as the world responds to her cuteness and says, "Puppies are not easy!" I tend to agree in heavy sighs. Her sweet face captures some amazing portraits, but really it's rather difficult to get her to sit still long enough to take a picture. I'm sure you would agree with me.

My trick? Well, hold on to your hats because it's a doozy. I use puppy treats. Not the Scooby-Doo kind (we're not solving mysteries here), the kind that get her attention and get her to do whatever I need her to do. The focus is the treat and she will obey. For Posey I usually have a dog treat that has a pinch of peanut butter (she gets crazy eyes when she gets a whiff) or I use a frozen cube of chicken broth. Then I have her "sit" and I hold the treat close to my camera and take a picture. This ensures she's looking at me or nearby and then BAM. She gets her treat, I get my portrait. Everyone is happy.

What kind of tricks do you use to get your pets attention? I imagine (and I'm very hopeful) that one day she'll be calmer and more mature… perhaps I won't need a treat to get her to sit still. Until then, we've made a fantastic investment on dog treats. :)

If I were to make a calendar of images…

Some of you may know that I am a portrait photographer. I have been taking portraits for about 3-4 years now and I have yet to find a reason to stop. I would love to share with you the images which I have captured over the years and what I would use to make a calendar. Some people think that portraits are only needed for special occasions, like the holidays or anniversaries. For me personally, memories are created spontaneously and to capture them you have to be prepared! I do my best with my smartphone, but I love my images when I have my Nikon D80 handy with me. Enjoy and please feel free to share my work with your friends and family.

You can see more images like these by visiting my photography page: www.facebook.com/nicolettejeanphotography

Are you my daddy?

I was just like any teenager that embarrassed easily. There was this one time when my parents took me to a video store (for those of you "youngin's" a video store is where people go and rent movies and at that time it was VHS and Laser discs). My dad was being the big joker he is and kept asking me if I "know that person" each time we passed people. He would laugh and nudge me and I would turn 50 shades of red.

When we got into the video store I broke away and started looking down a row of videos. From the corner of my eye I could see him looking at some videos just a few feet from me so I decided this was a great opportunity to really let him have it. So I inched closer to him, sidestepping and once I got close enough I kicked the back of his leg. "Oh my God!" he said and I looked up to see that it was NOT my dad. My eyes grew large and so did my embarrassment. My dad came around the corner and asked what happened. I apologized and apologized to the man, but for every step I moved closer he took a step back. My dad was doing whatever he could to keep from laughing... until we left of course.

I wish this was the only time that I had kicked someone playfully thinking it was someone I knew, but it's not.

Such is life.

What's your excuse? I can answer that. How much time do you have?

retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/MariaMKang

 

If I have time to blog about my excuses, I have time to exercise and eat right. So why don't I? I'm sure we all have our reasons/excuses. Believe me, I daydream of what I would look like and how I would feel if I wasn't the way I am today. I'll even admit that there are days when I pull a self-righteous big girl confidence and "accept" myself for who I am, but that fades because it's a huge burden.

Maria Kang lives in a city where I used to live so whenever I see her workouts with other mom's I recognize the location. It makes me think of how I could have had the opportunity to do the same then as I've wanted to do for so many years. I actually enjoy exercising. I love the way I feel when I've accomplished that movement and my body feels rejuvenated. I used to play tennis and I used to jog. Now I'm so overweight I feel like it would be so embarrassing if I went out there and even tried jogging... not that me jogging would go very far because I'm out of shape.

I've heard that it takes 21 days to really change a bad habit. Well, I've had this habit of eating my feelings for about twenty years so it seems a big overwhelming to even change it for more than a day let alone 21 of them. I think my mentality is I've seen myself successful and go back to my bad habits. I don't want take a magical pill and make it just go away... I want to work for it and change my lifestyle. I want the full support of my husband and my kiddo without them leading me into temptation and to fight me with fire if I even begin to break. Addiction is not easy to overcome and there are some people who never do overcome it. Life is too short to even have that mindset. So what is my excuse?

I wouldn't call it an excuse. It's my insecurities. Yes, I'm human and have insecurities. I can be the most inspirational cheerleader for anyone out there, but for me to be selfish and focus on my own health makes me cringe. I lose faith in myself quickly. I suppose another outlook is that I've been this way for so long that I am unsure of who I am without it. I mean, I know I am a mom and a wife, etc. But who am I when I have energy and more time spent not vegging on the couch. I think people with addiction find focus on something to replace what it is that weighs them down. I don't foresee anything that does that for me right now.

This is an everyday struggle for me. I recognize the opportunity, but I'm too chicken to take it on. I wish someone would kick the fear right out of me because I know I am capable of doing this. I don't even know what it means to be healthy anymore.