Winter Beach

March 26, 2012
See more posts in Engagements

There is just something about water that makes me calm and fills my soul right up. Even if I am in layer after layer and there is even snow left over, I can’t resist the sound of the water hitting the shore and the fresh air. It’s just comfy. It’s soft. It’s warm and fuzzy. Enter Images.

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Farm Wedding Fame

March 23, 2012
See more posts in Weddings


Jodi & Shane’s backyard farm wedding has gotten some amazing recognition these past two weeks. Yesterday their incredible love story and images appeared on the ilovefarmweddings blog. Yipppee!  Plus, MN Bride has chosen a cover banner of these two displayed on their facebook page! I am just giddy with excitement.  Check out both of these amazing resources for  great ideas and inspiration, they have so much. So honored to be a part of this wedding day and have my work displayed on these sites. Click on the links above to take a peek at the feature goodness.

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Identity Crisis

March 21, 2012
See more posts in My Heart

If someone were to ask you. Who are you? What would be your response? Obviously, your first sentence would be repeating your name. But what comes next?

I am a photographer

I am a basketball player

I am a wife

I am a hard worker

I am a speaker

I am part of Making Things Happen

I am a college athlete

I am mother *** (Clarifying.These stars are for all of you to identify with. I am not preggo or do I have any babies right now. 🙂 )

I am a twin *** (Again, I just threw these things out to be relatable 🙂 I am not a twin, but maybe you are?)

I am a go-getter

I am a state champion* (Almost, but not.)

I am a teacher* (Maybe, but my husband is)

Our lists of I am’s could go on forever. We often form our identity around these things. It is natural occurance that we identify or describe ourself as what we do. Our actions or our roles.

This was definitely my case. In high school, I played sports like nuts. Basketball and Soccer all year round from 6th grade through 12th. Some nights I would have three sports practices to attend. I was an athlete. I was a captain. If you would of asked me the question above I would have given you one of those answers. Then during the summer of 2002, three weeks before I was headed to college, I was playing in a soccer league to stay in shape and after a nasty tackle I had made a couple plays before the same girl came up behind me and took revenge. Little did I know that exact moment would change me so much. I limped off that field, later to find out that I tore my ACL. This news was definitely devastating, I got recruited to play basketball and this meant I would have to red shirt (or miss) my first year there. Yet throughout the tough surgery and yucky recovery, I was pretty optimistic about walking into college with a gimp leg.

Until, I hit my first open gym. As a part of the team, although I couldn’t participate I was required to be at every function. I remember walking into that gym and my heart fell apart. The thing you have to know about pre-season, is that it’s the first time the rest of the team gets to see your skills.  Open gym is where you show them what you got. So, here are these other freshman girls showing their ability. Showing who they are through their game, their mannerisms, their work ethic and there I was sitting on the sidelines.  I felt so confused. I wanted to show the team who I was. My skills, my attitude but without getting out on the court and gaining respect, I was at a total loss. I spent that whole first year searching and trying my hardest to fit in. Which in hindsight was ridiculous, but it was the only way I felt a part of something. To find a place where I felt like I could be myself.

Little did I know, that years later I would see my injury as a blessing. This was the moment that the Lord revealed to me that I had an identity crisis. My entire identity had been sports. Basketball in particular. I was so lost because that first year, I didn’t have the one thing that defined who I was in my mind. Going forward this still effected me as I was the toughest person on myself, every missed shot or intercepted pass, hit me at the core. Why? If I made a mistake, my self-worth was effected. Because  basketball was my everything. My performance directed how confident I was. How strong I was. How good I was. How worth it I was.

Now I know the Lord’s plan is better than I could ever imagine, but I kick myself that this insight didn’t come till years later. What kind of player would I be today? Now knowing that my identity is truly in Christ. My identity is placed on an unmovable rock. Oh, how I wish I could go back sometimes and hug that Gina. Give her that perspective.

But how easy is it even now to fall into the identity of what we do? How many of us value our worth based on how many clients we have? Or how many comments we get on blog posts?  In what our weight is on the scale? Or on how much we can accomplish?

This is why after busting our butts all day long to get things done we still feel hopeless by the stacks of to-dos (this was me two nights ago). This is why we let ourselves get wrapped up into competition. We are all wrapped up in performance. Oh how easy is it for us to fall into this trap.  Ryan Hall from FCA wrote these brilliant words, that my heart completely identified with. (I added some add lib)

When I am not performing well (as a photographer, wife, friend, a mother) I lose my hope. I lose my joy. I get down. I get depressed. But when you find your identity in Christ, that is unchanging. No matter what you do, you can’t mess that up.

Excellence is getting back up after you’ve fallen. It’s knowing that your true value is in Christ and that he is our hope for the future and our everything.

See it’s not based on your performance as a business owner, as a mother, as a marketing consultant. It’s based on HIM.

So today if you feel like you are running around with your head cut off, if you are underwater and feeling like you can’t breathe. If you feel like you are a complete failure. I encourage you to check yourself  for an identity crisis. Is your role as a mother taking over? Is your work as a photographer ruling your value? Remember that when you find your identity in Christ, that is unchanging.

No matter what you do, you can’t mess that up. So stand up and stand firm in your True Identity.

Gina the LORD is your identity. He lives in you.  What you do does not define who you are. What you look like does not define who you are. Whether you get your workload done does not define who you are. Whether your photography is recognized does not define who you are. Gina I challenge you to check yourself the second you sit down at your desk, open your computer, put your running shoes on or before a mentor call. Check to see where you are placing your identity. It is not in your performance, your works, your words, the amount of weddings published or blog posts read. It is not google analytics or facebook comments. It is in HIM. I want you to champion this, working on putting this truth deep in your heart. Because no circumstance can waiver your identity in him. No matter how hard you fail or fall down, are teased or mistreated. If you focus on things above the LORD will give you a peace that surpasses all understanding. Through anything. Gina you were not given a spirit of fear, but of a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So be powerful, stop fearing that your writing will offend or people will stop reading because its irrelevant. Learn and dig more into the fathers love and use that knowledge to love those in need. Gina have self-discipline to do the things that your body needs daily. Going to bed at a reasonable hour. Getting a workout in each morning. Time in the word and your daily read through the bible app. Action steps. Routine if possible and consistently giving the Lord your body, your plans, your decisions and heart. Feed others with this information G, as you are learning yourself. 

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Fall down. Stand Up.

March 16, 2012
See more posts in Lifestyle, My Heart

A really short story for you today. (Imagine sitting around a circle with crossed legs and me opening a book and reading in my pretty librarian voice)

Imagine you (an awesome hard worker) are bouncing around and headed towards a new goal. Ambitious. Happy. Ready.

Then you hit your first speed bump and you get whoa whoa whoa wobbly. You fall down. When you hit the ground and you freak out because everyone else is seamlessly jumping around you. (you might even give us all the pouty lip)Then what do you know. You bounce back up and look who made it to their butt. That exact person that you were comparing yourself to. Maybe you can’t even see when they hit trouble, failure, hardship, but they fell down too. 

The moral of the story. EVERYONE falls down. The key is WHO gets back up. Maybe even more important, WHO gets back up with a smile on their face, grit in their teeth and is ready to try again. Don’t just give-in or pout (like I did with last week). Don’t compare your path to theirs. Yours in unique to you, cherish and embrace that.

 

Remember that kid in you who wants to JUMP some more. Don’t even blush or be embarrassed. Learn to LAUGH, put on your awesome pants and get back up. Maybe even through your hands in the air. 

Fall down seven times, get back UP eight.

The End.

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

You’re the Author

March 15, 2012
See more posts in My Heart, Weddings

If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page – Mark Houlahan

Today take a peek at who and what you surround yourself with. Are they in line with your magnificent story? Is their influence positive in your life? Remember the amazing quote from Jim Rohn.  You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Who are those people for you?  Do they lift you up? How do they make you feel? How do you make them feel? Take a couple minutes to chew on this today and surround yourself with others that will help your write your magnificent story.

One day, one page at a time.

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Make Time for Think Time

March 14, 2012
See more posts in My Heart

I have been cooking up some inspirational writing each week over at the MTH2012 blog. I will be linking them every Wednesday.  Cool Beans?

Click here —–> Make Time for Think Time. 

Happy W Day. 

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Crazy Dreams Come True

March 13, 2012
See more posts in My Heart

I was out to lunch with some old-coworkers a couple of weeks ago and they caught me up on the daily grind back in the corporate world. Lots of decisions, company policies and challenges that are part of the everyday. Their voices almost went into haze, as I remembered that world. I thrived in it. I loved working with people and truly helping my clients. Working from home for this social butterfly has been quite a challenge, but formulating my schedule to include strength training, bible studies, Zumba and of course Hey Tell usually fills my social cup of tea each week. Honestly writing has really started to do this as well. I reply to each comment that is posted and I am able to connect to each of you, start conversations, relationships and my favorite encourage you and your journey. Truly, truly, highlights of my day.

Back to my haze….While I was remembering my old position, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I am my own boss and the only people I report consists of  my husband, my clients and most of all the LORD. This is a sheer and utter blessing that I really have let soak in the past weeks. I remember the times at my old job, where I would get so nervous when there was word of layoffs, when an office door was closed or when I didn’t know what this upcoming meeting was for. It was stressful. Normal large business stuff. But stressful.

To be able to have the free reign to make a decision and change the way that I work is remarkable. To have the flexibility to move and transform so freely is seriously such a blessing. Yes, I get nervous when bookings are slow or if I have big decisions to make. Yet honestly, if I put my trust in the right place, I have such a peace about it. I just want to shout from the rooftops. THANK YOU LORD!

I would have never even thought about this path for my life, but now I can’t see any other way. I don’t make a million dollars. It’s tough at times, but being able to walk into my home and set my own schedule is such a reward that I never ever want to take for granted.

Yes, running your own business takes tons of RISK and hard work. But these risks directly correlate to reward if your heart is in the right place. So don’t just write off your hopes & wishes. Take time to let those dreams bud. Because….

Thank GOD even crazy dreams come true.

Remember. I never planned or thought that being my own boss was an option. I didn’t even know I could dream that big. It took some interceding to get my brain going and to think that I really could make it happen. So, please stop letting all of your thinking be logical. Just DREAM. Dreaming doesn’t hurt anything. Scribble down ideas, have a dream-goal-reach-for-the-stars journal. Let the core of who you are come out on paper.

I know There’s a little bit of all that inside of me AND YOU.
Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Lyrics to Crazy Dreams :: Smash Version

Please If you can LISTEN while you read. This song is AMAZING.

Hello you long shots

You dark horse runners
Hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers
Hello you wild magnolias
Just waiting to bloom

There’s a little bit of all that inside of me and you
Thank God even crazy dreams come true

I stood at the bottom of some walls I thought I couldn’t climb
I felt like Cinderella at the ball just running out of time
So I know how it feels to be afraid
Think that it’s all gonna slip away
Hold on, hold on

Here’s to you free souls, you firefly chasers
Tree climbers, porch swingers, air guitar players
Here’s to you fearless dancers, shaking walls in your bedrooms

There’s a lot of wonder left inside of me and you
Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Never let a bad day be enough
To go and talk you in to giving up
Sometimes everybody feels like you
Oh, feels like you, just like you
Yeah

I’ve met some go-getters
Some difference makers
Small town heroes, and big chance takers
I’ve met some young hearts with something to prove
Oh, yeah

Here’s to you long shots
You dark horse runners
Hairbrush singers, and dashboard drummers
Here’s to you wild magnolias
Just waiting to bloom

There’s a little bit of all that inside of me and you
Thank God even crazy dreams come true
Thank God even crazy dreams come true
Yeah

Ps. Here I am living my crazy dream. Sweat, Tears and giving my every last drop at my last Destination wedding. Aren’t Natalie and I quite a pair?

 

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me

Lessons on getting Nowhere

March 9, 2012
See more posts in Faith, My Heart

Why is it that when we fail our first instinct (or at least my first instinct) is to curl up in a little ball and feel sorry for ourselves?

Last night I had a goal and it didn’t happen. I didn’t just miss this goal by a lil’ bit, in defiance I ran towards failure. Then I proceeded to give myself a pity party, emotionally and physically. I went straight to my coping mechanism of Hulu.com, pajamas and my bed. I think from a young age I have learned that if I get mad I don’t have to deal with the real feelings that are stirring inside. So, I crossed my arms and didn’t respond to my husbands hugs or kisses. I was pouty, frustrated and disappointed in myself.  I got up to turn the lights off to go to bed, and the LIGHT really went on.

I created this. I chose pity vs getting myself back up and back on track. I say to others fall 7 times get back up 8, yet I don’t give myself the power of those words. I chose to let my failure take over my entire body and attitude. In hindsight I am see myself like a lil’ kid who didn’t get her way in the sandbox and  just gave up. I want to go pick up that little girl up and tell her to brush herself off and go for it again. Tell her that her choices of reaction and response do matter. She has a choice.

Also, this is where I am starting to think about a family in the future. I don’t want my kids to believe the lie that failure is bad or an ending place. I want my kids to fail and try harder. To be able to laugh at their mistakes, as they try again.

I want my littles to shoot a basket, swing a bat, and raise their hand without a fear of failing. I want them to miss/strike out/give the wrong answer and be so excited to try again. I want them to know that their worth isn’t built in their actions but in the Lord.  I want to try my hardest to never crush that spirit. Goodness me, in writing this I see so much clarity as how God the father feels about us.

He is saying to each of us…….

I want you to know that your actions, successes, and failures do not equal your worth. I am your worth. See yourself through me. That goal you tried tonight, you tried to accomplish alone, take your eyes off of me and you will slip into darkness. Keep your eyes fixed on me and I will hold you up. I will fight for you. I will never let go. I want you to go through life not afraid to fail.  You are a sinner you will fail, it’s part of life here on earth. Your never going to be perfect. Yet, because I am bigger than any circumstance or problem. What are you afraid of? I am good. I am sovereign. I want to bless you.  So if I am for you, who could be against you? But I do give you free will to choose your flesh or to choose me. 

So are you done realizing that crossed arms and a hardened heart, get you nowhere? 

If your curled up and stubborn right now. If your tendency is to get mad and shutdown when you fall on your face. I encourage you to ask yourself, where is this response going to take you? Nowhere. You are paralyzing yourself in your self made fear bubble. Your feel sorry for me bubble. Take a second and step back for some perspective and maybe repeating this to yourself might help. I always I listen better when I write to myself.

Try it. Fill in your name_______(Gina) If you want to do yourself some good. Get uncomfortable. Lay down your pride and let go of your failures at his feet. Opening your hands and heart, although its crazy uncomfortable and not your first instinct. Even though you don’t feel like it.  Believe his word is truth.

G. Seriously, choose to feel the feelings. They aren’t bad. They aren’t even that scary. They are what is supposed to happen. Notice when you get angry at yourself and closed off. Use that awareness as a time to really examine your heart and get on your knees in prayer. You can change this engrained response, but it is going to take work. Work that will be well worth it. Work that will show your children someday that failing is a part of everyday life and its healthy. Be that girl Gina. You have it in you.

Some goofy portraits that Miss Natalie took of me in DR.

 
Gina is a Minneapolis based wedding and lifestyle photographer that loves bringing the LIFE out of people & capturing that energy on camera. Contact Me