Your Life As Art Photography by Pam
Artist & Intuitive | Pamela Zmija
Every child is a different type of flower and all together make this world a beautiful garden!
Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life!
Its not often I get in front of the camera but when I do its always memorable ! Especially with these two crazy kids ;)
My kids are lucky to have some very good friends. Not only their friends, but friends of our entire family.
Our boys became friends years ago, its almost weird to say that about my son – makes me feel old lol! Now even though they are not at the same schools , they are great buds! A friendship I truly hope is one that continues to grow stronger over the years, for the boys and also for us as their parents :)
One of those days…
What makes it better is these guys are my happiness!
You are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.” ― Anaïs Nin
Happy Thursday … its almost TGIF!!!
A very good friend of mine happened to email this to me today… Thanks S you are a great friend! We all have “those” days… love this read below ~ Enjoy!
| Stress Management for Women! |
A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’… She fooled them all …. “How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile. Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.
She replied , “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”
“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night… Pick them up tomorrow.
1 * Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue!
2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4 * Drive carefully… It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
5 * If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8 * Never buy a car you can’t push.
9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.
10 * Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
11 * Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.
13 * When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. (… Its a photo op!!! pz)
19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
20 *Save the earth….. It’s the only planet with chocolate!*
A couple weekends ago I was given a compliment about our babies, who are growing up way to quickly I might add!
“Your children are just beautiful… they truly like each other!”
At first I laughed. This was a man giving me this compliment on my kids, who at the time weren’t exactly being the best behaved. After a busy weekend with Fireworks Festival festivities and they were extremely over tired. They were having their moments of course and although we were with a cottage full of family I was on edge knowing they weren’t going to be the easiest to deal with.
After my initial response of laughing, he looked at me and said “no Im serious of course they fight like all siblings do, but they really truly like each other, you can tell that by how they play together”.
I cannot even begin to describe how humble that compliment made me feel.
Why is it so hard for mom’s to accept a compliment. I am getting better at it, but it seems easy to immediately brush it off. I certainly know that for me as a mom, I take things very personal and am quite hard on myself.
We are a normal family with normal kids, well ok we are mostly normal haha. We are however very real and down to earth. Average people who love and work hard. Our family and friends mean the world to us and we spend a lot of time with our kids.
Each and every day that passes I am more and more thankful for the family we have. Our children are very close, they are 18mths apart and although they know how to push each others buttons – very well I might add – they are amazing friends. There are a lot of days that I truly do feel like Im a mommy failure, however receiving a compliment like this… I guess I truly am doing something right!
Thank you Mr. S… Your compliment truly did warm my heart!
Our babies early days together… probably instantly helped their relationship that their mama was a crazy photographer hehe! I truly hope this close relationship for them continues to grow over the years and only gets stronger!!! It may have been crazy, the early years were a slight blur – thank god for my photography but it was SO worth it!!!
We had many days feeling like this hehehe one of my fav’s!
As many of my blog readers know, I have PCOS.
An invisible illness that a lot of times goes un-diagnosed. PCOS is extremely hard on a woman, physically and mentally, and can prove to be difficult for her family as well. 8 years ago this month I was diagnosed, after almost a year of trying to conceive our first child and for these 8 years its been an incredible journey.
Over the past 8 years I have slowly begun to figure things out with my body and health. Its been a rocky road getting here, to the point I am now, feeling much more knowledgeable and confident with these illnesses I have and will have for the rest of my life. Almost 2 years ago, I made the decision to have a hysterectomy. Although I knew it wouldn’t cure the crazy amounts of pain, discomfort and everything that goes with it; this was a huge step…
Ive had a lot of days that have been quite dark… living with pain, living with invisible illnesses is difficult, requires a lot of planning, a lot of time, a lot of self control and self discipline. All of which can be quite difficult with two kids very close in age, working full time and managing home life.
My journey has been interesting, as I learn about my body, my illnesses and how to properly manage. Since having my hysterectomy the pain has gotten better. The pain has gotten better, it has not stopped altogether, at times now the PCOS and Endometriosis has been flaring up quite badly and the intense paid has begun coming back – along with the pain comes feeling incredibly irritated, agitated and high levels of anxiety.
Some days are not easy. Its even harder when I get frustrated with myself and fall off the wagon with my eating.
I KNOW I cannot eat white flour and white sugar, I know that. Its SO hard. SO hard. I can eat whole grains and choose to stay away from sugar. However eating out can be so incredibly hard. We have been enjoying some awesome family time this summer, which has meant eating out more, I have become far to relaxed on groceries and cooking at home due to the crazy heat and opted for the easy, ok lazy way… and its affected me… badly.
Ive learned that not only do I need to avoid white flour and sugar for PCOS but also for RLS, Restless Leg Syndrome… I know, seriously!? Enough already.
Having various issues going on its sometimes hard to pin point certain things and over these past 8 years, moreso over the past I would say 3, things are falling more into place, I am understanding my body better and as our kids are growing its becoming easier for me to give myself the time I need to ensure I am healthy. It really is hard when someday’s these illnesses leave you with zero motivation, or being crazy tired from being up all night not able to sleep or in pain.
So I need to embrace it and move forward. Interestingly enough, white flour and sugar is a huge trigger of RLS – along with lack of sleep, stress – all of which gets worse when I have pain or cannot sleep. Exercise, especially leg exercises are excellent – good because I enjoy that.
I know this is a life long journey for me, also a large part of why I made the decision to keep photography for me and my family’s enjoyment – which I am having an absolute blast with this summer!!! I know I am not alone in this fight, even though some days it certainly feels like it. I am so thankful for the support of my family. As I learn more, they are even more supportive. Ironically a few of us have the pleasure of experiencing RLS – its not fun!
“Just keep swimming…” Dory
Tomorrow is a brand new day, with brand new opportunities.
Most times I am behind the camera.
Its my passion.
I have thousands of photos from the time we started dating to now. Being behind the camera makes it difficult to get in images to be in the moments.
I’ve learned over time, my kids don’t remember what we wore, how we looked or what it cost… they remember the moments and the awesome times together. Truth be told it almost shocks me at the moments they can remember, but it makes my heart happy!
A family friend urged for this photo of us, we’ll one that ended up being a handful of fun IN the moment shots and I adore them!!! I captured some fun shots from our day AND I got to be in them too, totally enjoying the moment!!!
Fun times. Its these memories we remember and cherish the most.
href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/zmijaourmomentsintime/9338671903/”>20130721-328C2586-WM, a photo by {Pamela Zmija Photography} on Flickr.
My lil bro and sis.
Both of them I am so proud of.
I love how close we are and when we can all come together at the family cottage.
Love my sister.
She us a huge part of our life. After a crazy scare last weekend I’m even more thankful for her. Another reminder that you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Love ya lots sis!!!
9 years ago today, my husband and our family lost a very special woman in our lives. A wonderful woman who I loved so very much. Who I enjoyed spending time with and was excited to share with her our upcoming wedding.
9 years ago today, my husband’s mom passed away from a crazy, emotionally intense roller coaster ride with Ovarian Cancer.
Just two months before our wedding, my husband lost someone so very important to him, at a time in our lives we were so excited for the planning of our wedding, praying and hoping everyday that Mom would beat this, she did once and fought hard. Unfortunately her battle had to come to an end, with much love and tears it was a very very hard goodbye.
I was so excited to have such a wonderful mom-in-law, she reminded me so much of my own mom and even some of my grama. Unfortunately the day we wed, this very important woman was missing from the front of the church pews. We know she was there in spirit, we know even to this day she is watching over us and our kids. How very much do we wish she could be a part of their, of our lives…
I am thankful for the time I did have the pleasure of knowing this amazing woman, not long after we began dating she was diagnosed, we became quite close and I am so happy we had that time together to bond and get to know each other. Everytime I watch Young and the Restless I think of her, she is who got me hooked. I worked with her during my summer breaks from college. Although she was only in my life for a short time, she certainly left a lasting impression, one that I continue to see in her baby boy, my husband and also in my children, more so my daughter. I am thankful for her love and for her acceptance of me into their family, she was so excited when we got engaged.
I will never forget the day we got the call, the hospital room filled with family and so much love, so many tears. The days after were a blur, as much as you think you can prepare for the imminent outcome, it was not easy. Not easy at all. Unfortunately the end came quicker than we had thought it would, we do believe that she knew she did not have long left and yet she never let on to influence wedding plans at all :( We went back and forth many times whether to cancel and just do something quick, she continued to reassure my husband that she did not want anything changed. Most certainly we had hope, we had a lot of hope.
The days following her death we spent a lot of time with her family, it was so wonderful. I also spent a lot of time with my husband, future husband at that time. I didnt want to be away from him after such a loss. We had a wonderful support system and compassion from our true family and friends.
Our wedding day was tough, on so many levels. I know Mom did not want us to make any changes, I love her for that, I would have loved even more to have her with us.
She is such an inspiration for how hard she fought, how wonderfully she lived and the amazing life she had !
We love you and miss you each and everyday xoxoxoxo <3
I love the Hosta’s that we have had at all of our home’s, they remind me so much of her not only because of their beauty, but because when they bloom. Mom’s birthday was only a week before she passed, a few yaers ago, more than a few years ago, the flowers were full bloom on the anniversary of her death. I enjoy watching them bloom, having them surround our home, in a sense how I know she is still with us.
Hug your loved ones, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Spend time with those you love, those you enjoy being around, those who play an important part in your life, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Take photos, a lot of photos, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Say I love you – and mean it, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Love and respect, sometimes you only get one chance, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Never let your pride and ego make choices you will one day regret, you never know what tomorrow will bring.
There will always be time for the less important things like shopping, tv, gossip, and so many more… you never know what tomorrow will bring.
People, are important. Love, is important. Respect, is important. Family, is everything.
You never know what tomorrow will bring. Live with no regrets!
We took our kids to Marineland and the kids, no we ALL had a blast!!! It was so much fun!!! A Lot more photos to come of the outstanding dolphin, seal and beluga whale show as well as our own fun by the falls!
Even the littlest moments, turn into cherished memories <3
I love my family, I love that my passion for Photography captures our many memories and moments together!
One thing I always have a hard time with is letting myself capture the moment and not always go for "the shot", most likely the Virgo in me ;) I'm excited to share our other photos as I made a point to get in a lot more! To enjoy the moment, the memories we all made together and most important, BE with our kids! Xoxo
