Camis bridal shoot and service project...& Give away!

It actually feels kinda surreal that this project has finally all come together to this day a project done and on the blog. My greatest desire for this blog is that you feel inspired by what people have done and then want to use your talents to find ways to bring joy into the lives of others. It can't be helped that some of that joy will seep into your own life.       

Tomorrow on the blog Miss Aubrey Edwards from Allthingsbrightandbeautiful will be guest posting on decorating your home with photography. I can't wait!!! There will also be some other fun things posted this week, so come on back, ya hear!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Give away, follow this link or go to the next post.

I was so glad that Cami was super excited and willing to participate in this project. She is one of the sweetest and funniest girls I have EVER met. Where ever she goes she is a ray of sunshine and everyone is attracted to her warmth. I also love that she choose to use one of her talents to serve others. Here's what Cami did in her own words. Following this are her bridal portraits.

Cami

  I recently moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with my husband right after we got married. It has been so much fun! When DeAnn told me about her idea for promoting service, I thought it was genius and I was glad to be a part of it. It was crazy at first because I had never been to MN and I didn't know anyone here, so I had to wait until after the pictures were taken and after we moved to get a service project under way. I was a little lost as to where I should start since I didn't know the area or even what my options were. But, I was determined to find a meaningful way to give service and I soon found it! I thought about what I could help people with, or what I could teach others. DeAnn has a passion for photography and she shared that with me, so I decided I would share one of my passions with others. 

                       I currently work at a high school with 7-12 grade. My job is to help the students with classwork and assignments(through a special program). But I wanted to do something more. When I saw that the high school had a pool I really wanted to help out with the swim team. I have been swimming since I was 7 and I love it! I also love teaching swim lessons and coaching swim teams so I wanted to jump in and help. I love sharing my passions with others, whether it be with swimming, or education I love to help others reach their full potential. The cool thing about schools is they can always use help! Especially with the budget cuts that really effect sports and art/music. Two of my favorite things!

I am really glad that I was able to get in touch with the girls swim team coach and ask him if I could help out. He was totally willing and even excited for the extra help. A lot of the girls were doing competitive swimming for the first time, so there was a lot to be taught and with one coach it was difficult for him to spend enough time individually to really help them out. The coach let me take over practice a few times, it's been great! the swim team I am helping right now needed a lot of help! The coach and asst. coach have been gone a lot lately so I have been able to help them by running practice and the swim meets as well.I loved these girls from the second I met them and it's been a blast. Luckily, there are a few weeks left of the season, go hawks!

 I absolutely want to find ways to volunteer and do service like this in the future. So, in the future, I will look for ways that I can volunteer my time and expertise to help out local schools and the community. 

 I do feel like the SIP project motivated me to put in the extra time. Swim practice is after school and it is tempting just to pack up and go home, however, staying later and helping these girls improve has been so rewarding! Knowing that I am volunteering my time for the good of service has been fulfilling enough for me. I simply wanted to help these girls become better swimmers, more dedicated, and more excited about the sport they chose to participate in. A lot of life lessons are learned through sports, I know that sports have helped me to become the person I am today.

 I definitely feel that service is easier than I thought. I have always wanted to help others like this, but sometimes it's hard to know where to get started.  

 I am so glad I chose to participate in the SIP project. From the pictures DeAnn took of me, to the snapshots I took of the girls, it has been so much fun! It has also been rewarding on many different levels. I have beautiful bridal portraits as well as fun memories taking pictures at 4:30 am. I also have the invaluable experience of helping the swim team learn more about themselves as swimmers. I feel like I can't adequately make up the time and effort DeAnn put into the pictures, but I hope that my service will impact at least one of the girls on the swim team.