It is my honor to announce that Kristen Lee from Lucas Christian Academy is the WINNER!!!  I received a beautiful nomination essay from Melinda Meredith that I would love to share with you all (shared with permission from Kristen’s mom and Melinda).

This essay is about an amazing senior, Kristen Lee.  Kristen is currently a senior at Lucas Christian Academy and is also my daughter’s piano teacher.  Two things that come to mind when I think of Kristen is how God has given her the gift of teaching and an incredible ability to communicate.  Kristen started teaching piano when she was just fifteen.  She often shares with me how she loves children, and how she feels she gets more out of teaching than her students.  Many times, her students share their personal struggles or feelings with her because of her age and her ability to listen and give wise council.  She recently went on a mission trip to Liepaja, Latvia, to work with children living in an impoverished, Russian naval port.  Many of the children had at least one parent, but the parent was typically not involved and the children were neglected.  Kristen spent a week with these children, loving them and sharing her love for the Lord.  She told me she wished she could have brought them all home with her!  While she was there, she was able to play the piano for the students and introduce them to songs about Jesus.  She is praying for an opportunity to return to Latvia and to find ways to continue to minister to the Latvian children.

 

Kristen also has been in many leadership positions with student council at her school.  She loves that her school encourages serving the community by providing opportunities for them to serve throughout the school year.  Some of her many activities include being involved in coordinating a canned food drive for a Catholic church in Allen, helping with Backyard Bible Clubs in Plano, serving with an apartment ministry in McKinney called Neighbor to Neighbor, serving food at the homeless shelter in Dallas, and playing the piano/keyboards for several church events.  One of these events that stand out in my mind is when Kristen played the keyboards at a church whose congregation had physical disabilities.  A few of the members were blind, had side effects from strokes, and many were in wheelchairs.  Kristen felt that these people ministered to her more than she was able to minister to them.  One event that Kristen helped coordinate for her school was an event called “LCA Serve Day.”  Being the Executive President, she helped locate and organize city-wide efforts of service for all grade levels.  The LCA Serve Day included kindergarten kids welcoming home American soldiers, feeding local firemen, serving food to families at a poor apartment complex, and arranging for their praise band to play at a Lovejoy Fall Festival.  I believe that all of these examples demonstrate Kristen’s truly generous and giving spirit and would love for you to consider Kristen for your Senior Session.   I think this portrait session would be a wonderful gift for Kristen to receive as a reward and to recognize her service to our community.  Thank you for your consideration!

Thank you again for the participation in the first ever Giving Senior Give-Away!  And a HUGE congratulations to our winner, Kristen!

I’m going to be giving away a senior session with digital files!  Starting today through December 31, 2011, I will begin accepting nominations for a senior that you believe has that giving spirit.  The winner will be announced in January 2012 (date to be determined)!!!

So what’s the scoop?  I’m wanting to hear about a high school senior that you know that has been extremely giving within their school, church and/or community!  Do you know a senior that has started an amazing charity or has lead a successful food drive?  Maybe you know a senior that has traveled to Mexico to build houses for those less fortunate?  Or they could just be an amazing senior that is very active in making their school/church/community a better place!

Anyone can nominate a current 2012 graduating senior or if you are a 2012 graduating senior, you can nominate yourself (if you are nominating yourself, please provide a teacher, community leader or church leader reference)!  You will need to write a 1-2 paragragh essay explaining how this particular senior is giving and why they deserve a FREE senior session!

I will select a senior from the essays submitted and announce the winner in January 2012.  Please email all essay nominations to info@amiiwroblewski.com.  Essays MUST include your name, email address (and/or phone number); the nominated senior’s name, email address and phone number (or their parent’s email address and phone number if the senior is under the age of 18); andyour 1-2 paragraph essay.

RULES:  Senior MUST BE graduating in summer of 2012 and reside within 75 miles of zip code 75077.  The nominating person (one who wrote the essay) and the senior must be willing to have the essay and their senior images shared on my blogsite and facebook page.  The winning senior must take their senior pictures on or before May 31, 2012.  This prize is valued at $2700 and includes a pre-consultation, make up by a professional make-up artist on the day of the scheduled photography shoot, a 2 hour on-location session within the Dallas/Fort Worth area (4-6 outfit changes) and an Image Box that will include 25 full-size, high resolution digital files from your session on a DVD with print rights and 20 mounted 5×7 images.  There will be NO rainchecks and/or monetary exchange should the winning senior not be able to fulfill the above requirements.  Should the winning senior not be able to fulfill the above requirements, I will choose a runner-up.

Happy Fall!!

I belong to an amazing online photography forum for women, called Clickin’ Moms,  that is all about personal and professional growth in all areas of photography, whether you are a hobbyist or a professional.  In addition to all the amazing information available, Clickin’ Moms also has wonderful workshops and break out sessions (mini workshops if you will) on all sorts of topics!

I’m honored to be a part of the lastest CMpro Break Out Session:  Pricing Strategies that Work!  You will have the opportunity to hear myself, Alicia Gould Photography, Krista Campbell Photography, Kristina Young Photography and Megan Squires Photography discuss our pricing and why it works for us and our clients!

Registration is open to Clickin’ Mom members and non-members and the Break Out Session will ONLY be available for the next two weeks.  Seats are still available but are limited so be sure to sign up!

Want to WIN A FREE SEAT?!?! 

Go “like” Amii Wroblewski Photography or Clickin’ Moms on Facebook.

Come back here and leave a comment.

Winner will be randomly selected on Friday night (10pm CST) and announced on Saturday morning.  If you have already registered, you can still enter to win…the winner will be refunded!  Remember, spots are limited so don’t hold out on purchasing your seat!

To schedule YOUR senior session, email me at info@amiiwroblewski.com for more details!

I took some pics back in July of the nursery and wanted to share those…it came out just about as close to how I envisioned a nursery being for this boy (ripping up carpet, putting down hardwood floors and adding a brightly colored rug was apparently not an option with the husband)!  I got a LOT of my inspiration from other nurseries that I saw on websites, blogs, online stores, etc. so I thought I would do a post with pictures and then link to places that I purchased some of the items.  I know I found that SO helpful when others linked to their finds!

I still have some things I really want to do in here, like add a floor lamp or hanging lamp near the rocking chair; add some espresso-colored baskets to the Ikea shelf to break up the “clutter” and color; change out the knobs to something fun on the changing table; add a rug, etc.  But overall, it’s ready for a baby!

This little stuffed owl was the first piece I bought that I knew I wanted a room built around (color, quirkiness, etc.)…I didn’t want a particular theme at all but I wanted the room to feel cohesive.  So I settled on an eclectic room that combined a bit of modern and vintage/retro.  To me, the owl represents wisdom, knowledge, learning and also is quite the popular “symbol” for quirk and vintage.  I adored the colors, especially when combined with the espresso and knew that would be my color palette!

One “must have” that I really didn’t want to skimp on was a cozy rocker/glider that was also a recliner.  You can’t imagine how hard those are to come by, especially when you have a particular color you want it in AND a particular style.  This chair pretty much fit the bill and it will definitely be a place we cozy up to every day!

Sigh…this painting…my sweet son saw these owl stickers at this Granny’s and decided to paint a family portrait with us as the owls.  His baby brother is sitting on his head!

I really love this little (and two pieces make it REALLY little) vignette with the boxing gloves and picture above it.  That is my husband’s grandfather when he was into amateur boxing as a “kid”.  Oh and those ABC’s….those were NOT an option….I absolutely had to have those and knew those would be the centerpiece of the room!

Luckily the Ikea shelf and changing table are all leftovers from Lawyer’s room when he was just a wee tot…those were about the only things I have kept since Lawyer was a baby.  I wanted the Ikea shelf to be functional (I’m getting there…still need my baskets with “useful” things put in) but I also wanted it to display all the quirky things in the room.

A few glimpses of quirky items in the cubbies of the shelf…

While I do want a touch more color when you look at this wall, I kind of find it soothing in contrast to all the bright colors and “stuff” going on with the opposite wall.  That map?  Well, another “must have” item….we are quite fond of maps around here and I just loved the vintage charm of the school “chalkboard” map.  I fully plan on letting the kids color in each state we have visited or use it as a learning tool.

Well, that’s about it!  If you are interested in where I got most of the items, check out the links below!

Crib :: All Modern Baby

ABC Wall Letters :: Etsy

Stuffed Owl :: Etsy

ABC Blocks :: Perpetual Kid

US Chalkboard Map :: Etsy

Sailboat and Wave Blocks :: Nova Naturals

Table/Chair Set and Shelf :: Ikea

Rocker Glider Chair :: BuyBuy Baby (in stores only)

Solar System Mobile :: PB Kids (no longer available)

Oh and here are some GREAT places for nursery inspiration!!!  I truly can say that by browsing these places, I KNEW what direction I wanted to go in.

Oh Dee Doh

Lay Baby Lay

Pinterest

Lawyer, my prayer for you is that you learn a lot, listen well and be the leader that you are!  We love you!