So, I always swore I would never be one of *those* people who does yoga. I was never going to be one to chant, “Ommmmmmm…” doused in patchouli while standing on my head in some contorted pose in a room full of other people with peaceful minds and who are already connected with their inner selves and only dine on lettuce cultivated in their own back yards.

Well guess what? Lo’ and behold, I am more like one of *those* people now than I ever have been (well, except for the patchouli…I don’t think I’ll ever like that scent ;-)) and surprisingly, I am totally cool with that. I’ve discovered yoga to be a very necessary part of this movement to become a better me. I think it was about a year ago when I had my first real big-girl yoga class at Modo Yoga in Austin and I was absolutely terrified walking into it. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to do most of that crazy stuff, I already knew I was terribly inflexible, and I thought for sure I’d burst into giggles when it came to the part where we were supposed to hold hands and chant. It turns out that there was nothing crazy in that class at all and while it was definitely challenging and got my heart rate up, I was so thrilled to see that I could at least try everything in a comfortable and safe and encouraging environment. In fact, I was so invigorated, I may have been slightly disappointed there was no chanting ;-).

All my life, if I couldn’t be THE best or perfect at something, I didn’t want any part of it. Same with yoga: I’ve always been so afraid of failure, I never gave myself a chance to try. I’m learning that yoga is a practice, and there is no measure of success or failure…your practice is *your* practice and it changes each day. After practicing yoga for a year, I *still* fall out of tree pose every now and then, I still am scared of crow pose, and my hips still require a great deal of attention to help them open more. But, oh, I’ve had SO many wins throughout this practice, I could never go back to life before yoga:

• I can sit cross-legged on the floor now. I’m sure most people take this for granted, but seriously, I haven’t been able to sit on the floor comfortably since I was child and this is a huge deal to me.
• My HUSBAND actually comes with me to class!!! You all…this is unreal for me to even type this out. Our hot yoga dates have been so good for him and for us as a couple. Never in a million years did I think he would ever attend a yoga class and it’s an even bigger miracle that we get to go together.
• I can do a wheel, what????
• I can do camel pose (most of the time) without feeling like I’m going to pass out (what’s up with that sensation?). I can’t quite reach my feet in camel yet, but I’m working on it.
• I have so much more awareness of where I’m carrying tension and can apply techniques I’m learning in yoga class at any time to help release that tension.
• I can turn my head to the right AND to the left now. Finally, I’ve worked out the strain that I’ve had in my neck forever it seems.
• Combined with barre, yoga has helped cure my once debilitating shoulder pain.
• It’s made me a better runner: building up a tolerance to lactic acid, stretching gently and effectively, and getting my mind to support my body and my goals.

My greatest win with yoga has been with calming my anxiety. I can arrive at class so worked up about the challenges I expect to face during that day, I pretty much want to crumble. But then, just a few minutes into class, I’m already less tense. And after an hour of sweating it out, I leave class with a tremendous sense of calm. No, it’s more than that…it’s acceptance with where I am as a human being, forgiveness, gratitude, and filled with love and excitement for life.

As another birthday present to my Pinkle Toes clients in celebration of 10 years, I want to share this yoga experience with you. I’m very excited to announce we are teaming up with Modo Yoga to host a Pinkle Toes-only class on June 17th! If you are a past or upcoming client, I invite you to join in this class. New and experienced yogis alike will find Modo Yoga to be fun and challenging and accessible to all abilities. Bring your significant other and have your own hot yoga date. Maybe we’ll make some bicycle blender concoctions after class 😉

First priority will be given to past/current Pinkle Toes Clients. About a week before the event, we’ll open it up to anyone else who wants to attend. I am soooooooooooo excited to get to practice yoga with you and maybe even introduce you to something that can change your life for the better just as much as it has mine. Namaste!

I want to send out a huge thank you to my friend Jody with Jody Mack Photography for taking these beautiful pics when we were visiting Charleston, South Carolina this spring. I wanted so badly to document these changes in my life and she did a phenomenal job! Thank you, my friend!

[This is a follow up post to the blog series about changes I’ve made to improve my overall quality of life. Part 1 is HERE.]

I met them a couple of years ago when they were expecting their very first baby. They had planned this lovely “babymoon” in Austin and oh, my goodness, it was like we chatted forever about so many things after we finished our session. I love when you get to feel a connection like that to a family. Naturally, when I saw them again for holiday pics at the end of last year, I was ELATED to learn they were expecting again. She mentioned in passing that they thought it might be twins, so I kinda fell on the floor when it was confirmed a short time later. I mean, can you EVEN believe there are two babies in there???? My favorite maternity portrait HERE. She was positively glowing when I visited them a few weeks ago. I cannot get over how amazing and happy she looks thanks to some inspiring health changes. And it’s been such a wonderful thing to watch them on their journey to parenthood and now into twin parenthood. They are going to do amazingly well and big sister is going to LOVE those sweet babies so much. I cannot wait to meet them and of course hold some twin babes again ;-).

Beth is a beautiful person with a radiant smile. Her son’s laughter is completely contagious. And her hubby is so incredibly patient while letting us play at our photo sessions. And everyone was beyond patient as we tried to get this photo session actually to happen! Every now and then, I’ll travel to the Houston area and usually, it’s not a big production. But it seems like for this trip, each time I would pack up and get ready to leave, there would be torrential rain and historic flooding. So, about a month after we had actually planned to do this photo shoot, we were able to get together. I’m glad we waited it out because we could not have asked for more amazing weather or more beautiful blue skies!

Flowers = gorgeous. Mosquitoes = annoying. But everyone is still smiling!

Ohhhhhh…that one up there through the jasmine? Look at his look…his smize…the protective love he has for his mommy in those eyes and in those hands that still have a trace of baby chub.

And I was LOVING the colors and patterns here!

Mr. Man decided he wanted to play hide-and-seek with us. I’m certain you won’t be able to find him…

Meghan Trainor look-alike, no?

Favity fav from this session is a tie between that jasmine photo and this one HERE.

Seriously, he can have anything he wants. Those sparkly eyes! His coy smile! What a charmer!

[Wordy, but worthy. Back story first, then be sure to scroll down to the bottom to read up on the Pinkle Toes special event at Pure Barre Cedar Park last week!]

It was early Feb 2015 when I nervously walked into my first class at Pure Barre in the hopes of having that same euphoric experience as my dear friend Leah. After 55 minutes in that class (of which I was barely able to do anything), I shakily walked out of that studio, collapsed in my car, barely made it home and pretty much stayed in bed for the next several days. I had nightmares about that class every night. Unfortunately (fortunately?) for me, I had already signed up for a month of classes, so I reluctantly returned. I can’t say that I liked my second or third class much better. But I was determined I was going to stick with it and give it a chance.

Let’s back up a little bit. After enduring very difficult and sad years for my family in 2012 and 2013, I can say now that throughout 2014, I was lost. That’s probably the best way to describe it. I was going through the motions day to day, numb and not in control of my joy. I just didn’t want to or even know how to live life after so much sadness. I felt like a zombie. Certainly, there were many bright spots during 2014–the greatest of which being the birth of my nieces–but I cannot say that I lived that year to the fullest. I was starting to feel very old. I would get out of bed each morning, tired and achy, not sleeping well at night because of the tremendous amount of pain I was in from my back, neck, and shoulders. I guess I did something during a photo shoot once that pulled or twisted my back and the hours at the computer seemed to be making it worse and worse. I was feeling desperate…like my clock had started counting down. I had this silly dream of running a marathon the year I turned 40, but here I was at 36, feeling 50 and thinking it could only get worse from here. I had zero desire to do anything really. I ate everything all the time. I spent a lot of time at my computer or in my bed. I was trying to be all of these things…a mom, a wife, a business woman, a human…but I wasn’t doing any of them very well at all.

I remember on January 1st, 2015 agreeing with my sister that something was going to have to change. She and I both started back on Weight Watchers and I honestly believed that would be enough to change my lifestyle. I was NOT the kind of person who would go to the gym. I was scared of exercise. I knew it would hurt and I knew it would be extra difficult for me because of all of the extra weight I had been carrying around. But when Leah showed up at my house in Jan 2015 for a photography project we were working on together and she was HALF the size she used to be and completely radiant and happy and healthy, I told myself if she could do it, then I could, too.

And with Leah’s gentle encouragement and support, I gave barre a try. I wish I could say that I was instantly in love with it like she was (you can read her story on her blog), but I can say that I DID start to notice changes in my body very soon after recovering from the initial shock and soreness ;0). I need to take a moment to say thank you to one of my most favorite Barre Tenders, Kari. I’m not sure she’ll ever comprehend how much her guidance and patience helped me embrace the shake and stick with barre, even when sometimes, I felt like just leaving in the middle of class ;-). She is an incredible teacher for sure!

After doing barre consistently for a bit over a year now, here are the seemingly small milestones that are a big deal to me:

1. I can touch my toes. Silly, I know, but I have never been able to touch my toes. Not even in high school. When I first started barre, I could reach to my knees and that was about it. Now, I can touch my toes and somedays, reach even further!
2. My shoulder pain is all but a distant memory. I finally worked the muscles enough in my back, arms, and chest to release my shoulder blades and that is pretty much like a whole new lease on life for me. For a while, I hate to admit that I was dependent on sleeping medications trying to escape from that constant shoulder pain. I did NOT want that in my life. I am beyond thrilled to have finally moved past that.
3. I will never forget the first day I held the plank for the full 90 seconds without coming down on my knees!
4. I’ve always liked my arms/shoulders thanks to the heavy lifting of camera equipment, but now, they are *really* toned.
5. I lost my love handles! Buh-bye.
6. I lost my cankles! Buh-bye.
7. I kinda actually like my backside and legs for the first time…ever. EVER!

Now, just because I’ve reached a few milestones and I’ve gotten better at the barre, it doesn’t mean I still don’t have goals and it definitely doesn’t mean it has gotten any easier by any stretch of the imagination. I happen to be a very goal-oriented person and this journey to a stronger, healthier, happier self is absolutely guided by SMALL, reasonable goals. My next barre goals are:

1. To be able to do REAL pushups. I’m getting closer, but I’m not there yet.
2. To get all the way through thigh sprints without a single break (I’m not even close to that yet ;-).
3. To be more graceful during seated core work ;-).

And now on to the AMAZING Pinkle Toes-only class we had at Pure Barre Cedar Park!!!! Where do I even begin? It was so overwhelmingly FUN and challenging and beautiful and happy and exhausting all at the same time. I was grinning like a kid in a candy store looking around the studio at all of the eager faces ready to take on a new challenge.

I was truly amazed that:

1. Each of these ladies actually took time out of there very busy days to come to class.
2. Some of them were doing barre for the first time and ROCKED it.
3. They were still smiling after class (the group pictures prove it).
4. AND, with their generous donations, helped us contribute $1000 to the Melanoma Research Foundation in memory of my husband’s brother, Jim.

Speechless, really. Even when I got home that afternoon and tried to tell my husband all about it, I kept getting choked up. What a joy to get to to share this passion with so many of my clients and friends AND raise so much money to help battle a disease that scarred our family deeply.

So, THANK YOU Rebecca, owner of Pure Barre Cedar Park, for being so willing to do this with me and teaching our class in a way that was challenging, but still possible for everyone in the room. Thank you for letting us hang out with you in the studio and for your support of the Melanoma Research Foundation. I am proud to call you a friend!

THANK YOU to my sweet client-friend, Gay, for creating those delicious and adorable custom cookies for the event!

THANK YOU to Elizabeth and Jackie from EDJE Activ for donating one of your awesome barre shirts as a door prize!

THANK YOU to Gloriana from Kitchun for the delicious No-Grain-Ola to fortify us after class!

THANK YOU to Katie from Modern Muse Beauty for donating to the door prizes and for being one of my Barre Besties for sure!

THANK YOU to my friends, my seester, and my clients for rising to this challenge and for being so generous with your time and donations. Thanks for letting me honor YOU as we celebrate Pinkle Toes Photography’s 10th Birthday this year!

If you are a past or upcoming Pinkle Toes Client and you missed your chance at the barre with me, don’t despair as I have several more special events coming up around town. The next one is going to be announced on Instagram *very* soon, so you might want to make sure you follow me there.

In the world of Pinkle Toes, this was everything a family photo session should be: genuine, dynamic, fun, meaningful, vibrant, colorful, quirky, energetic, and full of LOVE. I really feel like they nailed it with their choice of location, style, wardrobe, and the overall feel of their session. What radiant smiles!! You can’t help but to smile along with them. Another favity fav can be found HERE (Pinkle Toes signature blue sky, green grass, and negative space;-).

Things you should know about this session:

1. These boys got to be 100% themselves. Pretty much everything you see up there are things that *they* invented…including the heart shadow.

2. They kept me on my toes. But that’s good because it allowed me to get creative.

3. They are amazing brothers and get along so incredibly well. Yeah…I may have a bit of envy in wishing my boys loved each other as much as these two do ;-).

Favity fav from their photo shoot HERE.

These brothers stole my heart when I first met them at my holiday mini sessions last year and I was VERY happy to get to see them again when the wildflowers were in full bloom. They had me cracking up pretty much the entire time. Their smiles are infectious and it’s just not difficult to draw out their personalities on camera at all. I love their energy and their enthusiasm and most of all, their LOVE for one another. It makes my heart happy. THIS image also makes my heart happy.