Take The Time When You Need It

I'll admit it. I feel guilty taking time for myself. My wife works her ASS off and is with the kids the majority of the time. So for me to peak out quickly and need some personal time feels like I'm not a good enough parent, or husband. Well... I've come to find out I am who I am. There are certain things I can work on like patience, communication, unconditional love, etc. The things that I can't change are my personal needs and when it's time for me to clock out and have some time for myself, I better do it.

Before you start thinking I'm some egotistical guy, let me share with you the benefits of why I take the personal time.

1. I'm a better person - I come back refreshed and ready to tackel being a husband, parent, son, etc
2. Mutual benefit - I've come up with some of my best ideas for loving my wife and spending time with my family from just taking an hour or so of personal time
3. My stress level's are way less - I can't tell you how much lower my stress is now that I focus on me time
4. I'm leading by example - Your spouse might work their butt off and deal with the same guilty feelings of taking time off. By you leading, they'll want to do it as well. When I started taking personal nights once a week, my wife finally started doing the same and told me she saw huge benefits!!!

Here's a great example of what happened during this past winter. Our kids had been sick and when I woke up, I wanted to take them both out to breakfast and let Lindsey stay home. She opted to take Luci, our youngest who was still really sick, and stay at home for the morning. I preceded to take Bella to breakfast at Denny's where I got myself the Fit Slam. Oh yeah... 6 egg whites, tomatoes, and spinach baby!! Nothing better to start the day with in my opinion. But hey... I also think 2 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter is desert. "What the hell kind of person are you Nathan???" Don't deny it, I know that's what you're thinking:)

Bella and I went out, got groceries, and even made a birthday party appearance for one of her classmates. By the time I got home, Lindsey needed some time so she left. Awesome!!! I watched the girls and started cleaning up the garage. Lindsey returned after only an hour but seemed to feel better. I spent the rest of the day playing with Bella and cleaning out the garage. By the late evening, I knew I had some thinking and planning to do so I asked if I could leave for an hour. It wasn't an easy ask and Lindsey needed me. So we agreed on a return time and I hoped on my bike and headed to the local Starbucks. I was so damn focused for that 45 min period. I planned some key events, brainstormed some special surprises for people and even locked down some time to study the Stock Market and review our Income and Expense plans. I came home refreshed and because of that, had a wonderful evening with my little princesses.

Take the time for yourself. It's about balance and there's and obvious connection between you and your surroundings. If you're pent up and anxious, everyone you interact with will feel it. It's like paying it forward but with negative things instead of positive.

Take care folks and until next time...

- Nathan

Listen To Your Heart

I've been on this planet for 30 years and during all those years, I've had an older brother to play, share, fight, and just be with. He moved to Oregon to pursue another career and since then, I haven't been able to see him much. It wasn't until my family trip to Australia that I really realized how much I missed him and my heart hurt. I wrote him an honest letter while staring out at the ocean and just let him know I loved him and wanted to spend some time together. Upon returning home, I booked a flight to go see him and just hang. No big plans, just me, my brother, and whatever else came up. It was great just getting to know him better and to watch him do the things he enjoys.  We ended up taking photos together, picking wild berries, playing with the neighbor's dog, making homemade salsa and hummus, and creating a custom ipad cover. It was a wonderful trip and I'm really stoked to go visit again soon. It's important to note that I took the trip because my heart said to. Sure I was nervous about the cost, work, and family but I'm definitely learning to take my heart's lead and not over think things. It just ends up better that way for some reason. 

Do you follow your heart's prompts?

All images shot using my Contax 645 85mm Zeiss Lens and Fuji Pro400H

Disneyland or Bust!!!

    

So here's the story, I've got two little girls and my wife is a bit too good at being a mom:) We don't mess around when it comes to our children enjoying their young years and what childhood is complete without Disney? My wife being so in touch with our little girls had to lead the way for us bringing them to Disneyland for a few days of fun make believe time. She even took the trip to another level by going online and buying about 6 disney princess dresses. We laid them out the morning we arrived at Disneyland as a surprise and our girls went crazy! For the next few days it was just one costume change after another. I still smile thinking about how special those girls felt in those dresses that after 2 days of nonstop wear, were starting to fall apart. We also were able to meet up with another awesome family and husband/wife wedding photographer combo. They're a bit crazier than us which makes hanging out a bit of an interesting mix of crazy dad's, crazy kids. Check out their work, it's pretty dang amazing if I don't say so myself. http://www.carliestatsky.com/blog/2011/09/

Don't just want to look at my photos, check out the video my wifey made: http://vimeo.com/34485411

All shot with my Contax 645, 85mm Zeiss lens using Fuji Pro400h and Kodak Porta 400

    

Living the Summer Life!!

July 2012 was an epic month for our family because of the amount of miles we logged for trips. Our poor little Yaris:) We spent time at a backyard BBQ party with some of our close photography friends Lisa and Andy as well as Luke and Pamela. Then we made our way up to my wife's sister's house in Sacramento. There the girls played in the backyard with some fun clothes and glasses. When I think about it, that's not too different from what they do at our house!! ha ha ha. Capping the month off, we made our way up to the family property in northern California. It's a property my wife's grandpa and grandma purchased with some friends back in the 70's. This trip was an important one because her grandma had not made it up there since her grandfather passed away about 12 years ago. Bella and I rode dirt bikes for the first time, and just had a great time!!!  It had been a few months since I'd taken pictures because work had become so hectic so these pictures signify a wonderful creative release for me. They capture some of the best things in my life which are friends, family, children and nature. Without these, I would not be the man I am today. July was a month in Heaven as far as I'm concerned. 

All shot with my Contax 645 using Fuji Pro400h, Delta 3200 BW, and Ilford XP2 400 BW films