sunshine is gold, and it warms my soul

i am not one to complain too often about the weather. most of the time it is what it is, and i welcome the varying degrees of warmth, cold, sun, rain, snow, etc. however, this last month has been ridiculous. sure there have been the occasional hours (notice i said hours, not days) where the sky has opened up, blue patches have appeared and the sun has come shining through, but for the most part i, along with everyone else in new brunswick (and dare i say the whole east coast) have been living under a frequently leaking ceiling of grey. it feels like winter in vancouver bc.

one of the things that drew me to stay in the east coast, despite the bitter cold winters that freeze your nose hairs, was the sunshine. in my second year of university i noticed that the winter blues were not getting me down as much as they had in the past. i had more energy and, despite the looming papers, economic poverty, and other dramatic life bits, i was happier than i normally am during the winter months. i continued to reflect on this and realized it had something to do with the sunshine. it can be minus twenty degrees and really windy, but the sky will be blue and the winter sunshine is blazing beautifully!

i love my home city of vancouver bc. the beauty is breathtaking, especially in the spring and summer times when everything is so green and lush with life. there is the beach and the mountains all within a short drive and beautiful farmlands that stretch east when you drive out towards the suburbs. new architecture juxtaposed with the old, quaint little urban communities bustling with life, and beautiful flowering parks scattered throughout the brick and cement give the city character and wonderful charm. and, that one can never be without a good cup of coffee for there is a shoppe on just about every corner, which makes this city very appealing. however, when compared to the east coast there is an overall lack of sunshine in vancouver and that is a deal breaker. sunshine is gold and it warms my soul. i would trade walking through the city with a good cup of coffee, which is one of my absolute favourite things to do, for a small snow covered town with perpetual winter sunshine any day!

i am hoping that today's break in the clouds is the beginning of the end of perpetual greyness in new brunswick. i am not sure i can take many more days without a healthy dose of the sun's warming rays. i may have to invest in one of those lamps that mimics the sun just so i can get out of bed in the morning and face the day. do these lamps come with timers that will automatically turn them? perhaps i can set it outside my bedroom window to turn on around the same time the sunshine would normally begin to stream in...

love & sunshine,
shannon-may

SNEAK PEAK: inspiration wedding shoot

one of the big ideas i came home with in my tool box from WPPI 2011  was the idea of an "inspiration wedding" photo shoot. wedding stylist extraordinaire, jill la fleur discussed the importance of working together with other wedding vendors, and staging a mock wedding was the perfect opportunity to build relationship and trust with each other. my head was bubbling with ideas as i began to consider how i might pull one of these off, especially since it would be an opportunity to practice my skills in preparation for one of the most important days my clients will experience (and as an opportunity to build my portfolio)!

last week, it finally happened. through a course of wonderful events and divine connections (which i will blog about at a later date), an inspiration wedding shoot came together and i am so pleased to share a few images with you!

so thankful to the following vendors for their participation:

wedding and event planner: Celebrations by Sarah

styling and design: Celebrations by Sarah and Shannon May Photography

florist: Garden by the Sea

venue: Harmony House

hair and make-up stylist: Jx2 Hair Gallery & Salon

cake: Kristen Best

men's attire (suspenders!): Allure Fashion

and a huge thank you to Jamie and Allison - a real couple who are incredibly in love, and super fun to work with!

love & sunshine,
shannon-may

carlton county portraits: alicia

alicia is one of the bravest persons i know. 

she is from a small town in carlton county, new brunswick and has not spent much time out of that small town, and the comfort and her close knit family and community of friends, in her 21 years.  it wasn't until she came to university in st. stephen four years ago that she lived anywhere else. and i am pretty sure it wasn't until her travel study terms with st. stephen's university that she had ever traveled, let alone flown internationally!! but this is not why i think she is one of the bravest persons i know... 

in april, alicia graduated from university with first class honours, pack up and moved home for two weeks, repacked and moved to toronto to participate in the explorer program, wherein she studies french for six weeks immersed in the language and customs! when she is done she will stay in toronto to work and attend george brown in the fall taking classes that will hone her awesome skills as an editor! but, again, this is not why she is one of the bravest people i know...

alicia is one of the bravest persons i know because she has not let fear prevent her from seizing every opportunity presented her, nor has she allowed fear to prevent her from creating opportunity for herself. she has faced every personal battle straight on, perhaps shrinking back at first before standing firm in the face of adversity, insecurity and every other yucky thing that life throws one's way! in the four years that i have know alicia i been impressed time after time by her strength, conviction and sheer will power to write her own story rather than it come simply from the pen of another. she is brilliant, has an incredible gift for all things grammar, is a star swing dancer, a self-taught designer and seamstress, and an incredibly  b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. young woman inside and out!

alicia approached me about doing some grad photos for her by saying, "i want to feel beautiful and have the pictures to prove it!" alicia, you are beautiful and i hope you agree that these photos have captured every beautiful smile, giggle, contemplative, strong, and free spirited expression you gave my camera. you are a star in front of the camera. i hope these photos remind you how beautiful you are!

alicia designed and made this navy blue dress... in fact she is accredited with starting a trend at the university for the girls to hand sew their own dresses, skirts and whatever one might be inspired to stitch together!

if you love these pictures as much as i do and want to send alicia some love, leave a comment!!

love & sunshine,

shannon-may

surrogate parenthood, a necessary experience!

i am on day three of four … i am half way through my last day of…

let’s try this one last time. last week i experienced something rather interesting: surrogate “single” parenthood! yup. my good friends gwen and brent spent four days living it up in new york city in only the way the parents of three rambunctious boys aged two, five and seven can. yes, they likely enjoyed quiet times where no one was calling their name out every thirty seconds, they probably ate leisurely dinners without repeatedly asking their five year old to eat his peas; they probably slept in and woke up naturally rather than having a seven year old come bursting into their room asking for breakfast, or they were able to simply walked through time square without having to play red light green light in order to keep each other entertained! making this possible for them was their single, childless friend who placed her life on hold to step into the parental shoes of another! (my false starts to this post is courtesy of my temporary role as a parent).

i had no idea what i was in for. i anticipated there would messes to clean up, arguments to moderate, tears to wipe; that i would have to get up earlier than my usual to make breakfast, brush teeth, pack lunches and send the little ones off to school; and that my day would be busy with activity as dictated by the kiddos rather than my own desires. i even knew i would have to change poopy diapers - something i have not done in many, many years (and am very happy to avoid this for years to come). what i did not expect was… that i would desire (and even look forward to) an 8pm bedtime, feeling like my personal space was continually invaded without care, or experiencing a complete personality change within myself at 3pm; nor did i expect to hate the sound of my own name or to be criticized for the way i make tuna melts or for forgetting to get drinks for their meal! i also did not anticipate that my day would travel according to three different time speeds: my time, seven year old time and five year old time (the two year old is quite accommodating and obedient!). i did not expect to be so frustrated by so many little things!

a few observations from my experience:

-       -children have no concept of personal space.

-       -it requires a lot of repetition and an escalating voice volume to motivate a five year old to get dressed in the morning.

-       -if you make the same breakfast two mornings in a row a child may ask you why you always make the same breakfast.

-       -you can expect that a child will find at least one reason to get out bed after you have already turned out the light, closed the door and said goodnight two other times!

-       -kid friendly food is the reason why dairy farmers will never go out of business, holy cheesus!

-       -the youngest child of any family is likely to be the one who bosses the family pets around.

-       -bath time quadruples the time it takes to complete the getting-ready-for-bed-routine.

-       -five year olds are capable of vacuuming!

-       -we get frustrated with things just like kids do, and even use the same forms of outward expression, only kids don’t hide their wining, jumping up and down, angry sighs and etc., and for some reason it is so much more annoying when kids are frustrated than when i am!

-       -children never seem to want to do anything you ask them to do when you ask them to do it. 

-       -a two year old who climbs out of his crib during his nap time to tell you he pooped his diaper is both annoying and wonderful.

-       -it takes very little attention to make a child happy, but this attention and the happiness that ensues is soon forgotten.

this experience has been incredibly eye opening. i knew being a parent was tough and it required a lot of sacrifice. my sister-in-law, who became a first time mother in january, has expressed to me that it has been the most difficult thing she has ever done. and my friend abigail, a full-time mom, confessed that having children forces you to self improve, otherwise the little ones suffer the most. and that is the most surprising part of this whole experience! i did not expect to have three little “mirrors” reminding me about how much self-improving i still have to do! it is very humbling when you ask a five year old who is mumbling or whining about bumping his arm what he would like you to do about the bump and he responds: “i want you to care!” ouch. how on earth do you respond to something like that, other than realize what a horrible and a non-compassionate person you are!?

i highly recommend this experience to all childless people - single or married! rarely do we human beings have the opportunity to step into the shoes of another and experience a bit of what they live everyday. i now understand the importance of hanging out with my friends when they call and say, “i need to get out and drink some wine,” or the frustration parents exhibit when their four year old won’t eat her dinner, or why just stopping in for tea can be such a life-giving moment for the parent whose day-that-revolves-around-children begins at 7am when their seven year old bursting into their room and whose day does not end until that same seven year old finally listens and stops getting out of bed after you’ve already said goodnight! yes, parents have chosen this life for themselves, but they should not have to be alone in their choice. it takes a village to raise a child, right? wouldn’t that mean that being a lifeline for the parents is a big part of that?

if you have any hesitation about stepping into this experience, think about this: without this experience, i never would have had a cute boy named ben pick me a yellow flower, i never would have felt the satisfaction of teaching boys to make cupcakes, felt the joy of having a two year old look to me for comfort when he fell, i never would have had an articulate and intelligent boy named nathaniel buy me ice cream, i never would have reason to make muffins in the morning or to go on a date to the bistro with a sweetheart named joseph, and… i never would have had he privilege of participating in a much needed rest for my rock-star friends whose last trip together, sans kids, was more than seven years ago!

here are a few shots from my week with nathaniel, ben and joseph (these photos are all straight out of camera - no edits)!

i bought the boys activity colouring books that they then build into a pirate ship and a castle! super awesome, very time consuming, and maintained their focus for long periods of time... definitely a winner!

apparently crusts have koodies or something!

i would have starved, or been cooking all day if i didn't embrace the kid friendly food, which is toasted and smothered in cheese. the plate loaded with veggies is mine :)

snot running down the face into the mouth... a regular occurrence apparently.

again with those activity books! 

yup. i made cupcakes with the boys and there was little whining, no tears and minimal fingers stuck in the batter and then licked!

big brother helping little brother... so precious. 

this was sanctioned licking of the spoons!

time for icing!

and sprinkles!

i love the look of excitement on nate's face as he peels off the paper liner from the cupcake!

even joe got to help!

ta-da!

the flower that ben picked for me.

i thought it would be fun for the boys to blow up balloons for brent and gwen - a fun way to end the week and make it real for them that mom and dad would be home when they woke up in the morning!! we left the balloons all piked onto brent and gwen's bed!!!

i also had party poppers for them to set off.... brent told me he still wakes up in the morning finding the streamers stuck to his face (so maybe the surprise was more the kids benefit :)

nathaniel, ben, and joseph - you guys rock!

love & sunshine,
shannon-may