Couple of non-session related things to note:

1. Getting ready for the last Austin workshop this weekend, so I’m going to be away for a few days. In other words, don’t panic if you send me an e-mail and you don’t hear back from me for a while.

2. After that, we get to spend some time with Jim’s kiddos for a while and we are very excited about that. Their cousins are pretty darned excited, too. In case you missed it, I posted an update on Jim PLUS some exciting new limited edition releases for j.imprints!

3. Did you hear that we opened up two more on-the-road workshops this summer? One in St. Louis (which, by the way, is filling up very quickly) and one in TORONTO, Ontario, Canada!!! If you are a professional photographer (or working to be coming a professional family photographer) in/near these areas, see this page to submit an interest form and I’ll make sure you get all of the details.

4. Have you been following my 365 project? I’m proud to say that I have completed the FIRST month! Only 11 more months to go!

5. And don’t forget, you have until Feb 6th to vote for your favorite image in round 1 of Pinkle’s Pic of the year.

Every single day, I get asked, “How’s Jim?”

I am floored that people think to ask, considering most everyone in this world is facing their own issues and sadness and challenges.

And yet people care enough to ask.

I am humbled.

But I am sad because I don’t know how to even begin to answer that question, but let’s sum it up like this: he’s still with us and he’s still fighting.

Quite literally the day after we got the horrible news on my husband’s brother, we drove up to be with Jim and his family. I brought my camera with me. We decided to take some pictures. It was the hardest session ever. To be honest, even though we are so blessed to still get to see and talk to Jim, it’s still very hard for me personally to look at these pictures. But, I want to share some with you because you should meet Jim and his family. They are good people. And this is a reminder to you and to myself of what Jim is fighting for…of what is worth fighting for:

It has been an uphill roller coaster since November. We can’t ever really enjoy any downhill thrill. We can’t ever really take a relaxing breath. We just keep creeping up a hill that gets bigger and bigger. We were told the day after Christmas that we might have 3-4 weeks with him. We’ve passed that 4 week mark. But how strangely joyous and sad is it that we are grateful for just a week, just a day when at age 35, you’re expecting to grow old and have grandchildren and maybe even one day, great-grandchildren? Jim’s not technically my brother and it’s not my husband and children who are facing this exhausting battle, but we are all feeling it. We all hurt. We are all scared. We are all hoping.

Jim is trying. He really is. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to try to eat and eat well when the cancer in your liver is making you nauseous all the time. We went back to spend a few days with them a week or so ago. To see these pictures now, it is gut-wrenching to realize the toll the cancer has taken on Jim’s body in mere weeks. I am glad we took those pictures when we did.

In lieu of the standard chemotherapy treatments, Jim has opted for zelboraf (http://www.skincancer.org/news/melanoma/new-zelboraf-study), a newly approved drug to treat advanced melanoma. He’s also completed a series of targeted radiation treatments. In about another month, Jim will get new body scans and tests to determine the effectiveness of his treatments.

And so he fights. And he waits. And we wait.

The hardest part is that after all of this waiting, Jim’s sick leave has finally run out. It is incredibly ironic that they sacrificed so much for so long so that Jim could go to school and get a good job and take care of the family while his wife stayed home to care for their children. And now she needs to work. AND care for the children. AND care for her husband. AND do everything around the house. AND worry. AND plan for the future. AND maintain hope. I think my heart aches the most for her in all of this.

When we launched j.imprints back before Christmas, it was a quick effort to provide some sort of financial relief to Jim and his family while he underwent treatment. The response was overwhelming. Absolutely overwhelming and I can’t comprehend the kindness and concern and support that my clients, friends, family, and even complete strangers have shown to our family through j.imprints. It was tough for Jim’s wife to accept this kind of help, but I also know it has become a nice little safety net…a just in case…a “my kiddos aren’t going to go hungry” kind of relief to her. In addition to that, you managed to help us donate nearly $1000 to the Melanoma Research Alliance! Wow! Thank you!

We want to keep this effort going and so long story short, we have created a limited edition Valentine-themed release of images. PLUS we’ve added iPhone cases and notecards to the lineup. Please take a few minutes to browse j.imprints. Please, see if there’s something there that appeals to you. Please PASS on the link! Share it on Facebook, tweet it, blog it, e-mail it. Since Instagram was pretty much the inspiration behind this project, share images of your j.imprints on Instagram and tag them #jimprints (have you searched the #jimprints tag on Instagram? Oh, I love seeing everyone’s images displayed so beautifully). And again, because I promise I will mention this every time I talk about it on here, get educated on melanoma.

Thank you all again for everything. Every message of encouragement. Every little gift. Every story shared. Your power to uplift is immeasurable.

Since I literally just finished putting the finishing touches on the prize session for the family that won last year, I figured we ought to go ahead and kick off the 2012 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year contest!!! If you had a session with me at any time during 2012, you should have received an e-mail from me with the contest details and how to enter. If you did not get that e-mail, let me know ASAP as the deadline for entries is Jan 27!! I’ll be posting here and on Facebook once we have the first round of entries all lined up ;-). Meanwhile, enjoy these sneak peaks from their prize for winning last year ;-).

I can’t say this Christmas was particularly joyful, but I can say that we all did our absolute best to fill it with as many small bits of joy that we could muster. My husband (AKA Mr. Griswold) did a wonderful job of decorating turning our home into a magical little holiday wonderland. We were very grateful to get to have a lovely “breakfast for dinner” Christmas Eve with my family. On Christmas morning, we drove up to spend some time with my husband’s family and our kids got to have their very first White Christmas. And we reveled in the fact that at least we got to be together. All of us got to be together. The only invaluable Christmas gift I can imagine right now.

Upon returning home, there was a mountain of mail in our mailbox. Dozens and dozens of Christmas cards piled up because we haven’t had two seconds to drive down and check the mail in so long. I spent a good 30 minutes just opening cards tonight and in the middle of it, I just broke down. How wonderful is it to see so many beautiful, BEAUTIFUL families together, smiling back on those cards. Moving notes of encouragement from clients to us…people who don’t even know my brother-in-law, lifting us up in their thoughts this holiday season. Little gifts of appreciation, of peace, of “we’re thinking of you.” The power of your love and understanding is almost too much to bear at times. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to send out a holiday card this year. You have no idea how wonderful it is to see so much happiness all over the world!

j.imprints is still going strong and the sense of purpose it has given to Virgil and I has been so incredibly valuable. Go search #jimprints on Instagram…how cool is it to see how people are using and displaying their images? Keep sharing. Keep posting. Keep tagging. Keep us hoping.

I’m certain this post is fairly jumbled as we’re all pretty tired and trying to get back into real life after the whirlwind of the holidays. Please forgive me if communication is slow over the next several weeks. So much piled up during the holiday rush and all of the family stuff. And we are now gearing up for the first set of photography workshops at the beginning of Jan. I am very, very much looking forward to immersing myself into the world of family photography learning and teaching and improving and I cannot wait to meet these women who are coming in from all over the world to talk shop with me.

I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you were touched by magic this holiday season and I wish you all the very best 2013 you could possibly imagine.

Much love,

Michele

It’s only a day later than I had hoped, but here it is…HERE is the answer to, “…if there is anything I can do to help…”

Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that the past few weeks have been jam-packed full of fear, loss and sadness, but I am determined to turn this depression into something productive and I am determined to do it before Christmas so that we can spend this precious and very likely limited time together as a loving, supportive family. I cannot cure the cancer that plagues Jim, but I *can* give them a small way to help them focus their energies on family, treatment and pain management. Please, please, please, I don’t ask for much on my blog, but please, take a few minutes to check out the j.imprints gallery project and see if there is a special image that speaks to your heart that you’d like for yourself or for someone you care about. And then share it. Most importantly, get the word out about preventing and catching melanoma as early as possible.

Love to you all and wishes for a very happy holiday season surrounded by those you love most,

Michele

…I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing it was to get to work on this session today. That little girl up there is crazy, super loved and her warmth and energy and charm is 100x more palatable in person than even in these pics. She might just take after her mommy  just a wee bit ;-). Two other favs HERE and HERE.

Those of you who follow my blog, facebook, or Instagram know that this past week+ has been very trying for my family. I am getting back into the swing of things with work, but it’s taking some time and will continue to do so. Thank you so much to my clients and friends for being incredibly understanding. Thank you to Kelly here for being so amazingly patient waiting on her images. I’m normally a stickler for deadlines and timeframes, but even the best planning can’t stand up to life’s challenges sometimes. I feel amazingly blessed to have experienced so much love from my clients and the online community and my photographer friends.

Many of you have been asking about how you can help regarding my brother-in-law. We are currently working on a project that I hope to launch on Monday that might give you that opportunity AND you could probably score a last-minute holiday gift if needed. I don’t want to say much more because there are so many facets yet to be worked out, but please, check back Monday afternoon to see what we’ve come up with. And thank  you a million times again.

I am SO excited to have partnered up with Gro Boutique to bring back the 2nd Annual Pinkle Toes Holiday Mini Sessions! This year’s theme is Candy Land and I’ve been working day and night to pull together this magical, sweet set. The *only* way to score one of these FREE exclusive kids-only mini sessions is by booking a full session for 2013. I just announced these a few days ago and the openings are already more than half full, so don’t wait around.  And yes, if you bring in an unwrapped toy/gift to your mini, you’ll receive a special surprise ;-0. Please contact me ASAP to get the full details.

But…if you want to be among the first to know, be sure to pick one of these treats up at the Gro Boutique Grand Opening THIS Saturday!!!!!!!! Until then, my lips are sealed…

If you are going to be a high school senior and in the graduating class of 2013 in Austin, Texas or the surrounding area, you might want to drop a line below…I’m offering you something a little different in the way senior portraits can be created…

My girl has attitude, that’s for sure! Just testing out some fashion inspiration for the Back-to-School mini’s. Just a handful of openings left now!