Missing Child - Goldsboro/Wayne County, NC

Folks, this isn't for me, but I wanted any and all of you that might be following this blog to please read below. A friend of my son, Matt, is missing and needs medical attention. I am posting a picture of her that I took last year, but the ones in the links below are more recent. She has been missing since early Monday morning, and I received the following from her mom, Michelle, earlier this evening:

My daughter, Ashlee Michelle Davenport 16 is considered to have ran away Monday April 13 morning between 4:25am-4:45am.Ashlee is 5'8' 118 pounds light brown hair hazel eyes. She has the cartlidge of her right ear & her belly button pierced. She has dental issues as far as a her top front teeth are not straight. She also has the initials MS carved into her hip. There is a picture of her on kenlynews.com, newsargus.com and wral & witn.I got a phone call from her dr. Monday morning and she has some medical conditions in which she needs medication immediately! She has a heart condition which she needs to be treated for ASAP! Dr.is very concerned because she needs to be seen immediately!If you have any info whatsoever, PLEASE call my cell phone anytime 24/7@ 919-922-9967 or call the Wayne County Sheriffs Department @ 919-7311481 or Detective Sgt.Tammy Odom @ 919-580-4065.

Easter Pictures and New Pricing....

Well...here I am...on my first vacation in almost two years and I'm sitting in front of my computer.

Ok, you know I can't stay away from it for long, LOL...

On the front burner this week?

• My oldest son is home on leave for the first time in over 3 years;
• I just finished the Dutton's Easter portraits and put the package into the correct hands;
• We just established a few new portrait packages to accomodate the needs of more of our clients.

We spent the early part of the week enjoying the spring weather and landscaping our front yard. We had quite the little assembly line going on. Chris would dig the hole, I'd plant the greenery, and Johnny would drop the mulch. It's looking quite nice, actually, and we're almost finished!

During my down time, I finished working on Rhonda & Mark's kids' Easter pictures (some of which you will see here), and put everything on CD.

I've also been corresponding with Shelley regarding Wall 2 Wall's donations for the silent auction at the Lucama Spring Fling Festival. Did I mention that y'all need to show up for that? It's going to be a lot of fun, it's in May, so the weather will be amazing, and Wall 2 Wall Photography and Lori Carver's Tupperware booths will be there. Here is the URL so you can check out all the details: http://lucamacic.com/festival.html

I hope to hear from all of you soon. It's been kind of quiet this winter and I, for one, am ready to kick things up a notch. :)

Until Next Time.....

~~Jules

Artisans and Craftspeople Wanted

Hey, Y'all!

This blog isn't about me. (Yes, I know...hard to believe, right?)

It's actually about a small-town festival in need of vendors. Lucama (North Carolina, for those of you who aren't local to us) is hosting a Spring Fling Festival on May 16, 2009.

This fesitval is in need of vendors. Wall 2 Wall Photography will be there, and I'm hoping that any of you out there reading this will be there, too. If you are an artisan with a craft to show off, then please get a booth. If you are a craftsman/person with wares to sell, please get a booth.

The web site to check out is http://www.lucamacic.com/ and if you should have any questions, please contact Shelley at Shells4you@hotmail.com .

We look forward to seeing you at the Lucama Spring Fling Festival!

Ok, So Now I'm Not Slack - Just Busy!!!

Hi, All!
I may have been slack last month, but this month I've been busier than a one armed paper hanger in a paper factory....

Now that the Joint Commission has been and gone, the craziness at my day job has come down to it's regular low-key status. This gives me the opportunity to spend more time building the photo business...

We've recently come up with our own Economic Stimulus Package. This package includes the following:

Economic Stimulus Photos on CD Package - $130.00
This easy to use, economy-friendly package includes the following:

• Pre-session consultation
• A minimum of twenty of the best images of the session in jpg format on CD;
• One user-friendly directory of all images reduced for use in email and on the web;
• A second user-friendly directory of all images for prints up to 8x10 in size (we offer very reasonable prices on prints larger than 8x10);
• License agreement for printing and other uses (mugs, mouse pads, tees, etc.);
• Instructions for use and support after delivery;
• One 11x14” print of your choice.

Please give us a call (919-921-6328) a call if we can help you with any of your portrait needs.

We still have our Standard-Traditional Packages, too...

Traditional One-Pose Packages:
The "Standard Traditional" which includes

• 1-8x10,
• 2 5x7, and
• 16 wallet sized prints (retouching included) for $50,

the new
"Traditional Plus" which includes

• 4-8x10's,
• 8-5x7's, and
• 24 wallet sized prints (retouching included) for $75.

Both packages allow you to pick your pose immediately after the session.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment for a photo session.

Cheers and Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Julie

Yes, I'm Slack, Okay?

Yeah, I know...It's been over a month since I've posted anything out here. I've been busy, busy, busy...

THE FACE...
First it was my face, which had a cyst (quite a large one, I might add) that had to be removed...again. Those of you that know me know that it was removed once in March, then I had to go back a second time in March because he didn't get it all, so they attacked it again. Then after several follow-ups at the derm's office, here in Goldsboro, they decided it had come back and needed to be removed again. In July. Went back for a few more follow ups. Still didn't get it all, so I saw a surgeon in October who was sweet, but wouldn't touch my face with a ten-foot scalpel, so I got a referral to be seen by a plastic surgeon in Greenville in December. On the fifth of that month I had surgery for the fourth time. And to say he laid my cheek wide open was an understatement. Good that he gave me post-op drugs. God knows I needed them! Went back on the 12th to have the stitches removed, and was scheduled for the final (yeah, right) follow-up today. Last week my cheek swelled up, felt bruised and then did some things I don't guess y'all want to read about, but needless to say I figured that the perCYSTent thing had come back with a vengance. Turns out (I find out today) that the self-disolving stitches are not my face's best friend, and now I've got an infection. But I'm cool with that...I really thought surgery #5 was on the horizon. An infection is the BEST possible news I could have gotten. So, anyway...the next thing on my agenda has been....

THE DAY JOB
As many of you know, I work at the local hospital. The Joint Commission has re-organized something called, "The Environment of Care" which is a major-big deal for accredited facilities such as the one I work for. At any rate, almost 100 policies had to be reformatted and submitted to Senior Management for review and that has taken up most of my 40+ hours weekly at the day job. Soooo, when I come home, I'm fragged to say the least.

TECHNOLOGY
This actually forced me to unplug for the better part of the week after Christmas. After being inundated with an ungodly amount of spam, and typing policies, and receiving an unnatural amount of text messages I finally just got a clue and didn't check email, Facebook, MySpace, the web site, etc., etc. I finally just stopped and took a few days off from everything.

All of the above made me reflect and set some resolutions for the new year. Read on:

1. Under-promise and over-deliver: Translation? Instead of trying to do and be everything for everyone all the time, make fewer promises, and then give more than expected. That way, if time constraints limit you, you haven't bitten off more than you can chew, and even if you only deliver what you promised, you've still met your commitment. (I think of this one specifically for all the fund-raising I have a tendency to do. I'm only one person, therefore, I cannot single-handedly coordinate the Arts & Crafts Auction for Relay for Life, and the whatever else needs to be done, and the other misc. fundraisers, and United Way, etc., etc.) Also create a BALANCE for giving and taking. If you give too much and take too little, you burn out. If you take too much and give too little, well, that's just greedy. Everything in moderation and balance.
2. Family first! (Ok, family first AFTER God...but I have secular friends, too, LOL) I'm finding that if I take the time to do the fun things with the family, I come out of it with a little less time on my hands, but am more refreshed and can do more with less time. Seriously, that extra hour of Guitar Hero or bowling is NOT going to kill you financially, I promise!)
3. Do NOT sweat the small stuff. I'm learning the hard way that stressing out to the point of insomnia over such trivialities as the DDJ, you have nothing left when it comes time to stress over really legitimate things. Case in point? My mom's biopsy came back bad. If I worry about my day job and the ridiculous things all of that encompasses, I will not have the energy to focus on caring for my mom and her emotional needs. What happens at the office stays at the office and if it goes south? Well, then, it will just stay south until 8 a.m. the following business day.
4. Take care of yourself. Yes, we're busy; we are moms, career women, friends, cooks, housekeepers, homemakers, etc. If we don't take care of our own needs (ohhhh, I dunno, a hot bath, favorite t.v. show, good book, etc.) then we can/will not be able to adequately take care of what is important to us: spouses, children, friends, jobs, etc. This includes eating well and exercising, even if it's just a well balanced snack and a walk around the block.
5. Always work on bettering yourself. This can be anything from learning a new skill or craft to setting realistic (BITE SIZED) goals for yourself. Otherwise, you stagnate.

Okay, so I guess that is it for now. Do want to thank Brenda for her verbiage on resolution #1. That was more eloquent than anything I could have possibly come up with!

Until next time....