james christianson - the blog

the Christianson's do tahoe

i don't usually put a bunch of personal family photos on here...mostly because i don't have time.  but i thought i would share how the Christianson's do a vacation (it can be a lot of FUN work)!  we were able to spend an entire week in Tahoe without cell service or internet service which was very relaxing for me.  though i must admit i spent some time walking around the neighborhood trying to find a free wireless connection to download emails.  we went up with Charlene's sister and her family and had some good times.  we had 5 cameras between us so we shot some fun pictures.  most of the photos that i am in were shot by my brother-in-law Todd who is an amazing photographer.  check out his portfolio from africa here.  WWW.TODDREESE.COM anyway onto the photos, check it out:
my son Ian playing.

hiking.

charlene shot this one of me and Ian hiking.

the mountain biking in Tahoe is amazing.  here is Charlene and i tearing it up.

kayaking.

swimming.

Todd and i found this pier to jump off and we had so much fun jumping and shooting photos from the kayak.  it was like being a little kid again! woohoo!

i love this last one of Charlene and Ian hanging out on the dock.

graduation- the most important reason for my travels

i would love to shout this from the roof tops but my blog will have to be good enough.  i did many photoshoots while in california, but the main reason i went was for two graduations.

first, my sister graduated with her DOCTORATE IN PHYSICAL THERAPY!!  she has been working towards this for many years and her final stop was Loma Linda University my alma mater for my master's degree which i no longer use for work, but that is another story...  my sister Shannon, has an incredible drive and determination and has really worked so hard for this and i couldn't be prouder of her.  she graduated on the same day as her 37th birthday, one she will remember as being momentous i'm sure.  here she is in all her glory.

the second gradation was for Charlene's brother Bryce.  he graduated from Pacific Union College with a Bachelors of Business Administration.  he will be living with us here in Colorado for the next couple of months as he does an internship out here.  Congrats Bryce.  We are proud of you.  Here he is.

here's Bryce with his girlfriend Georgie...what a cute couple.

Bryce graduated on Father's Day.  i was able to spend my first father's day with my son Ian, he is such a joy, we love him sooo much.  I love to eat cereal, so Charlene bought me a new cereal bowl and a miniature matching cereal bowl for Ian...can't wait to have breakfast with my son.  : )  Here we are playing together (charlene took these photos...i'm going to have to start putting a camera in her hand more often!)

i am blessed

i have had a long week.  the week was tiring but productive.  i spent 3 days in chicago at the annual Partner Con put on by Pictage.   I then drove up to Aspen and spent the day meeting with wedding coordinators and catering managers at the Hotel Jerome, Little Nell and the St. Regis Hotel.  Partner Con is a conference for photographers and i will be blogging about that soon, so check back for more details of the week.

i wanted to blog about how blessed i feel and why.  you know those little epiphany moments that you get every once in awhile?  i had a teacher once who called them the aha moments.  these are moments when you are able to stand back and see your life from outside of yourself and you are able to truly SEE.  i had one of those moments last night.  here is what happened:

we got home late.  my wife is always in bed before me as i do my little puttering around the house.  last night was no different and when i finally went to the bedroom to get ready for bed i stepped into a room filled with that AHA moment.  the room was lit only by a small night light for ian.  my wife and son were backlit by this tiny and beautiful light.  my wife was singing soft lullabies to our baby boy as she caressed him to sleep.  i was frozen with the beauty of this moment.  this is my beautiful family that god has blessed me with.  a wife that is so loving and kind, who loves her two boys with everything she has and a beautiful, healthy and so laid back son who has brought so much happiness to our home.  it was a sudden realization of just how rich i am.  as i stood there watching this moment, i suddenly wanted to capture that feeling with my camera, i wanted so bacly to just dump all of my feeling straight through the lens and have this moment captured forever.  i ran upstairs for my camera and tried to pour my feelings through the lens.  i'm glad i did.  these photos will be a constant reminder of my blessed life.  thank you God for  my family.

photo shoot of the little wifey

well, my wife charlene is literally days away from having our little boy ian.  yesterday we went to the boulder creek trail to do some walking (she is trying to hurry things along) and take some last photos before she pops.  charlene is amazing, she walked 2.5 miles on saturday and then 3 miles yesterday.  she has also been riding her bike trainer 3-4 days a week for her entire pregnancy, that includes this last week which was her 38th week of pregnancy.  she never ceases to amaze.  here is  a few shots from yesterday.

we've moved

into the living room that is.  we woke up yesterday to a house that was hovering around 53 degrees, because of a broken furnace...!#@$#@!  it is still getting down around 25 degrees at night here in colorado, that's cold without heat.  fortunately our gas fireplace is still working so i ripped the mattress off the bed and threw it in the living room.  charlene is due to have our baby here any day so she needs to be comfortable.  anyway, here's a couple photos of the setup.

oh and by the way for any of you who are photographers, or business owners of any kind.  if you take a close look on the bed you will see the latest book that i am reading.  "selling the invisible" by harry beckwith. it is one of the best books on marketing and selling in the service industry that i have read so far...check it out, you'll be glad you did.