Short story: After nearly 9 years of blogging under that alias, I realized that name no longer speaks to who I am or the stage of life I’m in. But my, how fast it flew by! While snuggling my huge babies (Who will always be my babies no matter how big they get) it struck me how important it is to cherish the moment. Because every day is a gift. More than ever I realized it was time for a name change and I knew exactly what it should be.
As far as technicalities go, all of my old posts and archives are still here. Same stories, same message and passion. Just a new look accompanied by a new name.

Long story: This post about Saying Goodbye to Baby Making Machine explains it all. It’s a doozy.

My whole life actually. I never had a chemical straightener, but I rarely wore it in its naturally curly state until fall of 2013. I grew up getting a press every other week. As an adult, I worked as a news anchor and at the time the news business wasn’t ready for my big beautiful hair. While on maternity leave with my son, I stopped flat ironing my hair to show my daughter that despite what we see on TV, and in movies, curly hair is beautiful too.

I (I (mostly) haven’t looked back since. It’s been an incredible experience and I’ve truly falling in love with my hair for the first time in my life. I blogged about my hair journey here.

Why thank you! When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter we bought our first DSLR. I used a Canon EOS Rebel with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens and loved it! It’s a fantastic combo for beginner photographers.

In 2013 I upgraded to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and then in 2015 I added a 2nd camera to my collection to take better video (the EOS 70D which I have since upgraded to the Canon EOS 80D).

Finally in 2016 I upgraded my Mark ii to the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV which is like my 3rd child. I love it for pictures and video and she is almost always with me.

As for lenses. I have too many. Lately, I most often use my 40mm pancake lens. For dreamy portraits or stunning macros I use my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Lens.

My favorite all around lenses right now are my Canon EF 17-40mm for travel, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 for low light and Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8/L for that and everything in between.

Check out my photography course for all of my tips and tricks on photographing your children.

It depends. I love printing locally when I need something quick. In Austin I use Precision Camera. When I have more time I’ll sometimes used MPIX, CafePress or Shutterfly depending where I find the deals. For printing iPhone pictures I used to love Groovebook (can’t beat the deal) but all of the photos got out of hand. For grand wall displays I love WeMontage. So far I’ve been happy with them all.

A lot! While I tend to have a favorite camera for taking photos, I can never seem to have enough video cameras. My favorite to use quality wise is my 5D Mark IV, but it doesn’t have a flip screen which makes it more difficult to record myself. For portability and good quality I LOVE the Canon g7X mark ii. For a bit of both I love my Canon EOS 80D. It’s not as heavy as my full frame camera, has a flip screen and gorgeous quality and control. Only downside when it comes to vlogging is it doesn’t fit in my pocket. And sometimes I use my iPhone 7+ too, because it’s what I have on me when a moment is flying by.

Over the years I have used about a half a dozen editing programs. From Avid to iMovie, Adobe Premiere to Final Cut Pro. Currently I use Final Cut Pro X.

It can be quite the process, but when I stay on top of it it’s not so bad. Here is a tutorial for how I did it when she was younger. Here’s another biracial-hair care tutorial for how I wash her hair now. I’ve updated that a little bit. If you’re a visual person, check out my YouTube channel where I demonstrated our curly hair routine one afternoon. I’ll be adding more on our nightly routine and my routine for my son soon.

Short story: Homeschooling was something on my mind for years. It was something I always found intriguing but never saw myself doing because of my crazy work schedule and… Well, I just wasn’t sure if it was really for me.

My daughter went to kindergarten at public school and had a lot of fun, but by then my circumstances had changed and I had more availability to give it a try. I wanted more freedom and flexibility and quality time with my kids. After much thought and prayer we decided to go for it.

Want the long story? Read this post.