December 19, 2007 at 9:06pm
You guys. I am so excited. I just won a scholarship to the coolest workshop I’ve ever heard about!!!
The Love Affair Workshop is a women-only pro-photographer workshop in North Carolina, put on by some of the most amazing women. As soon as I saw it, I was dying to go. But when he saw the cost, Dave balked… I knew there was no way. Still, I obsessed over how to make it work. I kept looking at the website and dreaming. Then, lo and behold, they announced there was going to be a scholarship. There was my chance. I thought about it for days, and suddenly I got the idea that a simple essay wouldn’t do. They needed to see. So I created a slideshow.
Can I just say, that was SO worth the time I spent on it? Even if I didn’t win, I was so happy I’d done it, because it just made me love my family even more after seeing them on there. I was planning on sharing it here, but I was afraid of jinxing myself. 
I knew my story wasn’t incredible, that it was pretty much like everyone else’s story. So I win this scholarship for all of us, every woman that is trying to pursue a passion as well as love and care for their family, trying to balance it all, wondering if she’s doing a good enough job at anything.
Man. This is going to be SO cool!!!!
December 18, 2007 at 5:02pm
Scott, Shea, and Brooke Steffens!
Shea was nominated by her good friend Krista L. who shared the heartwarming story of how their daughter was born with a serious problem and that caused some of her organs to shift into the area where one of her lungs belongs and causes the lung or lungs to be underdeveloped. It was a very serious problem, in fact, while their daughter was in the hospital recovering from her surgery, another child with the same condition didn’t make it. There is only a 50% survival rate for a child born with this condition. Fortunately, the surgery went well and little Brooke responded wonderfully to treatment and she is now home with her parents. I am excited to be able to document their little family.
And… I can’t help it, I have to award a second winner. I’m calling this one the “Spirit Award.” Stephanie T. made a list of reasons why she needs the session and it was so funny. Some of my favorites:
” Because I’ve finally lost all of my post partum weight….but had to kiss whatever ‘figure’ I had left goodbye. I am past the age of a 6-pack and washboard tummy. Can you say ‘multiple c-sections’ 3 times really fast?”
“I read the obits on a regular basis. Those pictures are mostly horrible!! If I die tomorrow, I’d have nothing but an ugly, outdated picture. Oh the humiliation!”
“My kids are little…but dearest and I are not…(we are almost as old as dirt). By the time they are in high school, we’ll be so freakin’ old they won’t want a picture with us! Time’s a wastin’ girlfriend!”
I wish I could give everyone who wanted to win a session. Believe me, I know how important family photos are! Hopefully I can do this again in a few months. If you didn’t win this time, try again!
And since the winner is a baby, why not post a couple recent 
baby pictures? 
As you can see, I used the velvet a lot for these pictures. That’s because the little dude happened to pee on two of my other blankets as soon as I laid him down, before we could take any pictures! Occupational hazard…
One more thing:
Happy Birthday Dad!!
December 14, 2007 at 9:47pm
Yesterday I got the gumption to finally get our pictures taken for a Christmas card. Until this point, I had been telling myself that Valentines or even New Years cards are perfectly acceptable. But suddenly, that wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be in contact now, with all the people that we aren’t going to see at Christmas, people we miss, people we love, while nostalgia is making the connection stronger.
So, I spent my morning at Target finding suitable shirts for everyone, ones without tears or stains or logos. Then, when the kids got home from school, I bathed everyone, brushed hair, curled mine, stressed, primped, planned. I called my good friend Kathi and she promised to show up at 4, Dave promised to come home from work… we were going to ROCK this photo.
I guess I didn’t realize how late stinking 4 o’clock is in the winter. By the time we all got out the door, we had about 15 minutes of good light. While I’ve always understood how the moms at my sessions can sometimes get a little uptight, I forget how hard it is to fight that frustration! It took me a good half-hour to calm down after all that, I ended it feeling upset and sure that after all that work, we didn’t have much to work with. Sophia was being a stinker, the kids were running everywhere, Franklin wanted to be held and followed me around crying, and my second chin and spare tire would not stay hidden. I’m sure I put extra pressure on myself… what kind of photographer am I if my own family pictures stink?
Anyway, we did get some that are pretty good. I’m not going to share the decent ones, those might turn up on my Christmas card. But here are my favorite out-takes:
December 12, 2007 at 8:54pm
Burn-out, that is.
This whole “busy season” thing is a lot like packing for a move, where you keep thinking you’re really almost done, but doing all the odds and ends things is a lot more work than you anticipated and you find out- that time you thought you were on the homestretch? You weren’t even close.
Not that I’m hating stuff, I just am busy.
But right now, my biggest question is how in the crud do I win Solitaire? I’m seriously solitaire-impaired. Solitaire is like a little nap for my brain because I don’t have to think about anything but matching. And it never asks me for a drink or a snack. Or draws on itself. Or spills syrup on things or eats couches. But I can’t win. I win like 1 game in 20. Dave says he wins most of the time. Is it just me that can’t do it?
(sorry for such a lame post, I’m on the kids’ computer once again while Dave is monkeying with the cd burner on my computer that can’t seem to burn a decent slideshow. argh!)
December 10, 2007 at 5:24pm
So much for the posting every day thing. I’m still going to try, but please forgive my failure in the past. The last couple days have been hard, trying to get my brain in order and get everything ordered in an orderly fashion.
I need to get back to work. Or back to the kids. Or something else but sitting on my hiney. But real quick, I’m going to share a few photos. 
I went back to see what sessions I’ve shared and which ones I haven’t and realize I’ve been super stingy! I’ll post a lot over the next few days. Unless I don’t. But just know that I want to, and that I’ll try.
For now, here are the twins of a friend of mine. Not to be confused with my nieces that I posted a while ago…
December 6, 2007 at 9:03pm
I’ve been writing things on my hand lately and joking with people that I was putting ______ (whatever we were discussing) on my Palm. I needed it. I forget a lot of things. So I got this:
Well, one of these. Not all of them.
But an iPhone. Pretty exciting. I’m looking at that picture and realizing I need to add that jewel game. I love it.
Anyway…
Shelby was on-time to piano today for the first time in a month. I would call that a major victory for iPhone.
And while I’m talking about random stuff, I have to admit I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately that has really been bothering me. I have to just get it off my chest.
I came across these boots the other day, don’t ask me what I was doing at Bergdorf Goodman, because I really don’t know. But I’ve been so bothered ever since. I’m fine with someone wanting to spend $750 on boots. If you have it and it’s what you want to do, go for it. But to spend $750 on boots that make you look like you have the worst cankles ever? (cankle=when there is no size difference between your ankle and your calf)
It looks to me like the leg of a very old woman who, due to medications or illness has gained about fifty pounds of water weight, mostly in her legs, who spends her days wearing slippers because shoes just don’t fit. But on Sundays, to look her best, she puts on black tights to hide the purple veins and squeezes into her best shoes.
I always feel a bit bad for that woman. And I feel like she’s a hero for trying to make the shoes work. That is just totally admirable.
But to pay $750 for that look? Nuh-uh.
Just had to get that off my chest.
If you’re going to buy boots, just choose. Boot or shoe. Combining them is not a good idea.
December 4, 2007 at 8:35am
Missed a day… but I had good reasons I swear.
Yesterday I hit an all-time high of Franklin mischief.
First of all, the boy can climb like crazy. At three years old, on his own, he can climb up the fridge and get things stored in the cupboards above. Nothing is out of his reach. And he’s quiet, too. He does it without a sound because he knows if he gets caught, the fun is OVER.
He took a jar of trailmix filled with peanuts and chocolate and raisins, ate what he wanted, and left the rest for Piper. I discovered this when I found large amounts of Piper vomit in the hallway. Chocolate and raisins are toxic for dogs, you see… life threatening. Piper seems to be ok, fortunately.
He also managed to watercolor on the walls with red paint that at first looked like blood and freaked me out. I can’t complain about the watercolor, though, because it was so easy to remove. It could have been sooo much worse.
The grande finale, though, was when he took a bottle of syrup from the top cupboard and took it on to the couch, unscrewed the lid and (I think unintentionally, but who knows) emptied the entire bottle onto the couch. I wanted to just take the couch and leave it on the street and not have to deal with it. But Shelby reminded me I can take the cover off the cushions and throw it into the washing machine. I did. While the naked foamy cushion was waiting for it’s clothes, and while we were eating dinner, Piper (recovered from her earlier illness) managed to find a delicious foam cushion with syrup lurking inside. So, when we were finished with dinner, we were delighted to find that Piper had ripped up a chunk of the couch cushion. Lovely.
So, anyway, along with being real busy cleaning up stuff, I was also obviously too busy with my other stuff to notice what was going on around me and allowing the P-Dawg and F-Dawg free reign of the house. Today will be better. It better be.
December 2, 2007 at 8:28pm
I love taking pictures. I love capturing the connections between people. The whole thing makes me really happy. The biggest thing that bums me out is that I can’t capture my own family because I’m behind the camera.
I also sometimes wish I didn’t have to charge for this, because I know a lot of people would really love to have pictures but can’t afford it. Myself included at the present moment. But, alas, I do have to charge, for numerous reasons that I don’t need to go into right now.
Now that I’m coming out of “busy season” and finding time to think, I’m really wanting to give back, to give a session to someone that can’t afford it right now. Almost like I’m giving it to myself, only not to myself.
Do you know someone that would like a family session for free?
I’ll include the creation and the digital files (valued over $1500).
How to win it:
Write me a note. Tell me about why you’d like a session, or why you’d like to nominate someone else for a session. I’ll choose one family and announce it on December 18th (my Dad’s birthday!). That way, if someone wants to surprise someone else with a gift certificate, there’s time to get it by Christmas.
The deadline for nomination is December 15th, so that gives you almost two weeks to figure out what to say, how to say it, and send it to me at shannon@shannonmontez.com. I’m excited to be able to do this and can’t wait to hear about your reasons for wanting a session.
*eta: this offer is also open to Utah residents, since I’m there at least once a year, I could manage a session there*
December 1, 2007 at 3:17pm
Yesterday was Piper’s first birthday. We celebrated by practicing sit, down, dance, come, crawl, high five, running around the house yelling happy birthday, throwing balls for her, and that’s about it. She’s a dog. No cake, no special meals, if I can barely get it done for my own kids, the dog is going to have to settle with a pretty normal day.
I’m glad to have made it past her first birthday. The journey has been nervewracking at times… This summer was a rough one for poor Piper. During our trip to Utah this summer, under some unfortunate circumstances, poor Piper ended up like this for a couple of months (and I’m not even going to mention the chocolate incident of a couple months after that).
It was very sad. We felt like useless dog owners and that we’d made a grave mistake inviting such a fragile soul into the chaos of our family. But she’s all good now and all is forgiven and she loves us, even perpetrators of serious crimes.
Or should I say she loves us all especially perpetrators of serious crimes? These two are best buds. Sometimes their behavior can drive me crazy. But sometimes it melts my heart.
In other news… I’ve decided to blog every day from now until Christmas. If nothing else, I’ll share the sessions I’ve been too busy to share until now. And I have a couple things up my sleeve: a contest and plans for a workshop, so stay tuned for those.
November 27, 2007 at 10:16am
A few months ago I was asked to contribute a Christmas-themed page to Better Homes and Gardens Scrapbooks Etc. for a feature they were planning. Of course I wanted to play! I’ve been very lazy in the scrapbooking department lately so it was fun to have something forcing me to scrap a christmas page. I’m so glad I did, because this party has been one of my favorite things all year my entire life.
If you are a Caldwell and recognize yourself in a picture or two, you might want to pick up the current issue for posterity.
Here’s the page
(you can see it on page 69 of the nov/dec issue) Enjoy, as this may not happen again! (the publication, not the party)
by Shannon Montez
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