I AM GENTLE! Steffani’s Story For as long as I can remember I’ve struggled with severe anxiety. For some, anxiety may feel small... but for others like me, my anxiety is in one word, crippling. The feeling of belonging and knowing that I am a beautiful and strong woman has always been a battle that has seldom been won throughout different times in my life. I’ve always felt awkward around others, especially in elementary school because I was one of the tallest and skinniest in my class. By my freshman year of high school, I became extremely self- conscious and aware of my weight and appearance. I suddenly had feelings and fears of being accepted. Accepted for who I was and what I looked like and those feelings would haunt my everyday thoughts. I told myself daily that I wasn’t pretty, that I looked fat (even though I hadn’t really gained any noticeable weight), and that my friends are only there because they are taking pity on me. What was supposed to be some of the best days of my life, slowly became a place of dread and fake smiles. Not even my own parents knew of my struggles and yearning to belong. I hardly ate at school; often throwing away my lunch and when I did eat, I tried to do it in private for fear of others watching me. One day shortly after graduation I decided that I didn’t want to live in fear anymore. However, when I met my sweetheart four months later, the self- consciousness and doubtful feelings slowly crept their way back into my mind. I know my husband loves me for me, along with my family and friends, but it’s still a struggle sometimes accepting that fact. I often wonder who I truly am and struggle with wondering how others perceive me. I chose the word GENTLE for my word of empowerment. This word serves to me as a reminder that I need to be Gentle with my thoughts and actions towards myself just as I am gentle with my thoughts and actions towards others. None of those negative thoughts matter in the eyes of my Savior and Father in Heaven. It is simply the adversary trying to win his war against mankind and me. I WILL NOT allow Satan to have control over me any longer! After all, our Father in Heaven created women and men alike in His own image, which is simply… perfection, and that includes me! I know my Savior loves me just the way I am simply because of the peace and comfort He brings to me when I am on my knees pleading with Him to help me “change”. He assures me that the only change He requires is that I change my ill-feelings towards myself. I am a woman that was created by a perfect being and not created to please the world. This brings me hope for the future because I know that I have an army of family, friends, and angels on my side when I feel any doubt or fear. Steffani is our fifth BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Steffani?!?! Steffani is a BEAUTIFUL friend of mine that I have known for years now. She and I have become very close over those years and I was SO EXCITED that she answered my model call and wanted to be apart of this project!! I LOVE photographing this lovely woman!! Her amazing gentle nature is the yin to my yang :):) She has this amazing way to see the light, to be the light and to help others find the light. She is a striking presence and you can't help but be in awe of her beauty. She is so kind, so genuine and SO SWEET. I always love our time together!! Steffani's story is incredible. Hearing about what she has struggled with broke my heart and also made me love her even more. I have felt those EXACT feelings and it's honestly so nice to know I'm not alone in feeling that way sometimes!! We are all better for sharing our hard times with others around us. It helps, inspires, comforts and eases others' burdens, just by simply helping them to know and feel, I AM NOT ALONE!! We would all be better off if we were real and raw with each other instead of trying to be this idea of 'perfect' and constantly trying to one up each other!! That is just setting ourselves up for failure and sadness. Happiness comes from being real, being raw, and in rejoicing in what God has given you. Steffani's story helped me to realize more in depth as to what that means. I am so in awe of your bravery, your gentle nature and your beauty Steffani. I am SO grateful for your friendship and that YOU were apart of this project!! Steffani's story really hit home for me and I was truly inspired by it. I hope you are too!! I hope we can all learn to be a little more gentle towards ourselves and others. I am a better me for having Steffani in my life, as my friend and as a BEAUTY in this project!! We love you Steffani!!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH STEFFANI FOR BEING APART OF THIS!!!! You are brave, strong and BEAUTIFUL!!!! What an honor it was to photograph you, listen to your story, become closer friends with you and truly see and help other women feel of the natural bright light you are!! I just think the world of you and STEFFANI, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! I JUST THINK THE WORLD OF YOU STEFFANI!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Steffani Rowley and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-am-gentle-steffanis-story We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Steffani's amazing, real and raw story!!!!
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I AM AUTHENTIC! Lauralee’s Story I love quirky, imperfect people. When someone trusts me enough to share an imperfection or idiosyncrasy, I feel honored. My inner compassion races out to embrace and lift them. The connection between us is deepened. And I love them. But I wasn’t always as kind to myself. There used to be two of me. The first “me” was the person I showed to the world at large, including many of my friends and some of my family. This “me” cleaned up frantically when someone was coming over, ate less when someone was watching, and shared selectively the pieces and parts of my life that I felt were respect-worthy. The second “me” was the person I thought I really was – the person who had gone more than a year without making her bed, who had invited people to dinner and forgotten to show up (twice!), who had struggled with mental illness and sometimes forgot to take her medication, who had scheduled a huge move on her husband’s exact birthday more than once, who had not felt comfortable putting on a pair of shorts since 1987, who had repeatedly overdrawn a checking account, and who had lost her patience with her children on more than one occasion. Generally, this “me” wasn’t allowed to come out and make conversation without the careful placing of strategic filters, blinders, and screens. My patient family, a remarkable group of inspired Relief Society sisters, and my Savior taught me that my true self – the real me - is a wonderful, mixed-up, messy conglomeration of good and not so good components, qualities and experiences. I learned that allowing all of those parts of me to speak, share and show is a blessing to myself and to others. A catalyst for growth. Because I felt safe I was able to begin to share parts of myself that were less than perfect and gradually, I began to see the more complete, quirky, imperfect and delightful me who has always been present! I started to see a committed parent who never remembers the tissues but cries anyway (and sometimes it’s ugly crying) every time she attends school music concerts or dance recitals; a caring stranger who is late to a commitment because she gave up her place at the front of the line at the DMV to a young mother with little children and went to the back to start again; an imperfect early bird mother who regularly wills her eyelids to remain open in order to stay up late talking with her sixteen-year-old night owl; a neighbor, who (with her husband) provided a cell phone, a listening ear, and other important support for a young woman who wasn’t related to us; an unorganized friend who is often searching for her keys or her phone or her glasses but usually finds time to set her own interests aside to talk deeply with a child who needs to know that someone cares. My Savior continues to show me, through the hands and hearts of my Relief Society sisters and my family, that He loves all the pieces of me and that He can work with me and through me – even the imperfect parts of me - to bless others. My Savior is showing me that He really can make weak things and weak people – strong. And when His process to refine me is lengthy, it’s ok to just be me; the real me, the whole me and look toward Him with faith in what He will be able to make of the future me. Because of my family, my Relief Society sisters and, most especially, my Savior, I am learning to be truly… AUTHENTIC! Lauralee is our fourth BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Lauralee?!?! Lauralee you're SO BEAUTIFUL, your smile is so fantastically contagious and I LOVE how genuine you are with everyone!! I was SO impressed with you and your instant willingness to let go and have a great time. I LOVED how excited, happy, fun and upbeat you were the entire photo shoot!! You have this way of making everyone around you feel loved, relaxed and instantly happy. I was OVER THE MOON excited to get to know you better, read your story, connect with you and photograph your BEAUTY!! I just think the world of you my sweet friend and I hope we stay friends forever <3 <3 THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for your courage, strength and happiness in being apart of this very special project to help women all over the world start self-LOVING!! Your story has touched my life and heart and I can't wait to see how many wonderful lives you touch as this project goes forth and progresses. You are an INCREDIBLE daughter of God and it was an HONOR to meet you, photograph you and become closer friends with you :):) LAURALEE, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! WE LOVE YOU LAURALEE!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Lauralee Hill and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-am-authentic-lauralees-story We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Lauralee's amazing, real and raw story!!!! I choose to be Positive! Christee's story I was blessed to grow up in a home where I was taught and told about my beauty and value as a woman. However; I fell into the trap of comparing. I looked horizontally toward others and saw all the beauty around me and listened to the little voice in my head that there wasn’t any beauty in myself. I would look in the mirror and have my mind flooded with negative thoughts. After years of struggling with these thoughts, I fell on my knees and pleaded with my Father in Heaven to see myself as the daughter of God I truly was. Immediately I felt arms around me and for the first time I felt the love my Father in heaven had for me. I cried tears of joy! Everyday I still have negative thoughts pop into my mind as I look in the mirror, but I immediately replace it with a positive thought! With God all things are possible! He blessed me to notice all the beauty around me including the beauty within myself! I chose the word POSITIVE because God helped me realize all the positive attributes in myself! Christee is our third BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Christee?!?! Christee is one of my all-time, most favorite gals in the universe :):) From the SECOND I met her I KNEW we were going to be SISTERS and I couldn't have been more excited!!!! She married my sweet brother not long after I met her and I can honestly say I have NEVER met a more Positive woman ever!! You'll NEVER hear her talk negative about anything or anyone. She is truly that sparkle of happiness we ALL need in our lives!! She is such a rare, happy presence that you just never want to say bye!! She is the epitome of POSITIVITY and it INSTANTLY rubs off on you when you're around her!! She is SUCH an amazing woman, has a VERY special gift with kids, (truly EVERY kid that meets her LOOOOVES HER!!) she has the CUTEST laugh, she is a bright hope to everyone she comes in contact with and is ALWAYS seen with a bright and BEAUTIFUL smile on her face. I can not say enough wonderful things about this BEAUTIFUL woman!! She has helped me to see life in a WAY more positive and bright way. The second she sees you, she compliments you on something that you didn't realize you were rocking :):) It's such an amazing, rare and wonderful quality to have and it just makes her who she is!! I wish soooo many other women did that!! It's a goal for me now, I want to make others feel the incedible way about themselves like Christee ALWAYS does for me!! I always leave our conversations feeling like the world is soooo amazing, lighter, happier and grateful for her and her very genuine compliments!! She just naturally lifts you up and helps you love yourself more!! She is heaven sent for our family and I always look forward to seeing her and spending time with her :):) Thank you Christee for always choosing to be positive, for seeing the good in others ALWAYS and for teaching me true Christ-like love and friendship!! I love you Christee!!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH CHRISTEE FOR BEING APART OF THIS!!!! You are brave, strong and BEAUTIFUL!!!! What an honor it was to photograph you, listen to your story, become closer as SISTERS with you and truly see and help other women feel of the natural bright light you are!! I just think the world of you and CHRISTEE, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! WE LOVE YOU CHRISTEE!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Christee Schofield and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-choose-to-be-positive-christees-story We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Christee's amazing, real and raw story!!!! I CHOOSE TO BE BELIEVING! Mindy's Story I’m not sure why it is that I never believed that the important people in my life loved me. It isn’t that they treated me poorly or that they neglected me; they didn’t. But I can look back on my life and see a pattern of disbelief that influenced my choices in every aspect of my life from the classes I took at school to the people I dated. Still, the Lord blessed me. I married a generous, funny, over-the-top-talented guy who loved the gospel. He loved me, but I didn’t believe him. He brought with him some demons of his own to overcome, but it wasn’t until after he’d gotten entangled in devastating things that consumed him to the point that he took his own life that I could see clearly how my not believing him had damaged each of us and our relationship. Still, the Lord blessed me. As I’ve humbly searched, studied and responded to opportunities to learn, Heavenly Father has helped me to see that being believing is my choice, my responsibility. The burden of proof lies with me, not with God, family, friends, teachers, or anyone else. If I don’t choose to be believing, it doesn’t matter what others offer me in terms of love, nor does it matter how many truly lovable characteristics I may have - I’ll never see what I don’t first believe! So I choose, not once but always, to be BELIEVING-- believing in God’s love, believing in others’ love, believing in learning to love and in learning to feel loved. Mindy is our second BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Mindy?!?! Mindy, you are so sweet, so kind, such a lovely presence and so soft spoken. I am AMAZED at your bravery, strength and how you have held on to the rod of the gospel all these years even after such a horrible tragedy!! You are the epitome of strength!! YOU ARE LOVED, SOOOO LOVED!! By God, by your family and by alllllllllllll of us!!!! I am so proud of you and how far you have come in BELIEVING you are someone incredible, wonderful, talented, sweet, kind, inspiring and BEAUTIFUL!!!! It was an honor to meet you, photograph you, hear your story and help you in your journey to believing God made YOU on purpose and for a purpose, and He doesn't make mistakes!! I am so proud to call you my friend, so blessed to have had the opportunity to photograph you and soooo thankful YOU were apart of this photo shoot / experience. This photo shoot would not have been as AMAZING & BEAUTIFUL without you, your story, your presence and your beauty!! MINDY, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! WE LOVE YOU MINDY!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Mindy Johnson and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-choose-to-be-believing-mindys-story We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Mindy's amazing, real and raw story!!!! I AM SPIRITED! Karen's story When I was seven or eight years old, I was molested by my adopted brother\blood cousin. Because of this I was very timid in setting boundaries for healthy relationships when I started dating around eighteen years old. My world turned upside down when I was date raped. Now with even more feelings of being unworthy and having new baggage of being an unwed single mom, I married into an unhealthy, abusive relationship because I didn't feel I could be loved or accepted by anyone. So the first person to accept me with all my baggage, I clung onto dearly. I quickly found out, within the first three weeks of our marriage, that the relationship was toxic. I came to an all time low in my life with a deep depression and not loving who I had become or how I had gotten there. I prayed a lot and continued to go to church, but didn't know how to change my situation... But the Lord provided a way for me to grow and learn more about myself in a step by step way, by giving me a chance to go to school for a subject that would help me understand myself, my situation, and challenges to overcome. Psychology. Being in school gave me the chance to gain confidence in myself and to see myself as a smart and capable person. Even though I had four young children, I was able to keep good grades and keep the house under control and organized! However, the abuse in my marriage continued to get worse... but thankfully the Lord gave my husband a job out of state. This gave us distance, and gave me a chance to learn about my true self and capabilities without having negative talk thrown at me daily. I pursued personal counseling thru LDS services, set up by my bishop, to better my life further. I needed help to train myself to quit the bad self-talk I had done for such a long time and learn to finally forgive myself for things that were not my fault, and to love myself despite my faults. I started to lose weight for myself, and knew that I was worth loving. It took me almost a year of the Lord guiding me step by step and with self love training, and help from my counselors to get out of the relationship safely. The divorce was brutal but, the Lord blessed me with a strong support system through my friends, my family, and moving me back to my home-town where I was able to start over fresh. We only had one bag of clothes and a box of toys, nothing more. But in all this the Lord did not leave me and my kids stranded. I found a basement apartment and we moved in within just a few days. People I didn't know in my new ward and in the community donated supplies, furniture, kitchen items, food, etc. Everything needed for a home was given within a few days time. I hadn’t even gotten a new job yet, but we were taken care of completely! I was in awe! These angels that were guided by the Lord touched me so much with all their love they showed us! This was another Testament that I knew I had done the right thing, even though it was so hard to leave and separate my family again. Slowly I started going to church again with loving friends and neighbors. I changed my schedule at my job so that I could have more opportunities to go to church instead of working all weekend. I also went to the single’s ward activities with these friends and to dances. I eventually turned to the Atonement again, and to find out who I was through God’s eyes. Once I saw that, I was able to love myself again. I read the scriptures, which helped a ton for me to get in touch with the spirit. I had to start all over to let the love of Christ into my heart and to let him heal it COMPLETELY! I was going to school again. This time for Paralegal. Eventually I started seeing myself thru different eyes. I wanted to be the person the Lord had in mind for me. I followed his promptings for me easier. I was no longer angry at the church, nor with God. I was finally at peace and full of love. I was not truly happy until I went back to church regularly and I started living the commandments the right way. The only way to true happiness and freedom is to live a guiltless life. To reach for success and eternal life. To reach higher! And not to be satisfied with just mediocre. I wasn't happy until I realized that! When I finally let go, the man that had been my friend for one and a half years, was now able to have my heart. He was there all along. My husband now. He had a goal, and he kept his eye on it! I feel like he waited for me, the Lord molded him for me! My husband is my rock! He is so patient with me. He is a wonderful Dad and example to my children! I was blessed with a miracle baby with this wonderful man and we have an amazing life! I LOVE our family! I am active in the gospel and love God in all I do. I know I have much more to improve, but I'm at a better place today than I was three years ago! And that is a huge success! I have goals, and I know I can achieve them with Heavenly Father’s help and with my husband by my side. The Word I picked is SPIRITED. I picked this word because I have always been very close to my Father in Heaven. I have always wanted to please the Lord in every way and that’s a strong quality of mine! Being close to Heavenly Father makes me strong. It helps me see others the way that He would see them and love them. Being SPIRITED is where my positive energy comes from and what gives me my determination to get through such hard things in my life. The Lord gives me these trials to shape me and I am stronger for it! I can be enthusiastic and happy even in hard times, and that is why he gives them to me. Because we, me and the Lord together, can handle whatever comes my way! Karen's here to kick us off!! She is our very first BEAUTY we are celebrating and what a way to start!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Karen?!?! Karen has SUCH a tender heart!! She is kind, loving, FUN, bright, a light to all those around her and has the CUTEST laugh ever!! I am soooo thankful the Lord put her and her friendship in my path. She is a GREAT friend and is soooo much fun to be around!! She has an amazing family and a hubby who is just head over heels for her <3 <3 This girl is going places and it was an HONOR to photograph her beauty and every little amazing thing that makes Karen a BEAUTIFUL daughter of God!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH KAREN FOR BEING APART OF THIS!!!! You are brave, strong and BEAUTIFUL!!!! What an honor it was to photograph you, listen to your story, become closer friends with you and truly see and feel of the natural light you are!! I just think the world of you and KAREN, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! WE LOVE YOU KAREN!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Karen Fullmer and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/…/i-am-spirited-… We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Karen's amazing, real and raw story!!!! M e e t t h e p h o t o g r a p h e r s : Me - Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie from my Taylor Jay Photography https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ & Kelsey Bailey from Kelsey Bailey Photography!! https://www.facebook.com/Kelsey-Bailey-Photography-247736875434016/ Kelsey and I have been shooting along side each other for over 5 years now!! She is Uplifting and I am Unstoppable :):) Together we have done TONS of dual shoots together and each time I feel we have created such a positive and amazing experience to those we photographed. It's always SO MUCH FUN to work with her and I'm SUPER STOKED to show our very first BIG photography project to you!! Picture credit for the 2 pics of me: Kelsey Bailey Photography B a c k s t o r y : The creative vision for this photo shoot came to me while I was watching youtube.com a little over a year and a half ago. I have recently been listening to youtube as I edit my TJ photo sessions and it's really helped me be more creative in my own work just by seeing the creativity that has been coupled with presenting my favorite songs here and there through their music videos. I am so fascinated with how the videographers use and particularly place their angels, the creativity behind the stories they tell and the happiness radiating from those in the music videos. It has greatly helped me in how I photograph and with my creativity as an artist!! ONE music video in particular caught my eye and I felt it was truly inspired :):) The music video is Most girls by Hailee Steinfeld. I love the lyrics, the whole vibe of the song, Haliee's beautiful voice and most importantly the empowerment I felt for myself from watching her music video!! I immediately opened up my youtube web tab to view her music video, since I hadn't ever heard her song before. It popped up on the finale of her song, the part where all the women, including Hailee, are in white t-shirts, jeans and they all have a power word in black across their t-shirts. I IMMEDIATELY felt a BIG IDEA coming on!! I watched that part of her music video at least a hundred or more times and each time I felt more empowered. I wanted to recreate this in some way!! I wanted to empower women to love themselves and the skin they've been given without apology just like in the music video!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBB_QOZNEdc I couldn't seem to get that song out of my head. I kept dreaming up a photo shoot that I could help women sky rocket their journey to self-loving instead of the normal self-hating!! I HATE that this world says we need to change to fit in. Our clothes are never good enough, never expensive enough, you will never have the perfect hair, don't even try cuz you will ALWAYS look fat, you should be tanner, you should get botox EVERYWHERE, you should get every surgery cuz you... just the way you are will NEVER be enough!! Why do we let the world and Satan get in our head like that??!! God made us, each of us, just the way we are ON PURPOSE AND FOR A PURPOSE!! There is NOTHING wrong with any of us!! We are Spirited. We are Believing. We are Positive. We are Authentic. We are Gentle. We are Warriors. We are Fearless. We are Unique. We are Passionate. We Rise above. We are Strong. We are LIMITLESS. I wanted to help empower women into believing, TRULY BELIEVING that!! I knew I couldn't do this project alone. I prayed so hard to know who to ask to help me fulfill this vision of mine. I was within minutes told to ask Kelsey Bailey. I knew IMMEDIATELY that was the right choice!! I contacted her the next day and she quickly responded, "Oh my gosh!!!! That sounds AMAZING!!! I'm so excited!!!! Yes yes yes please!!!! I'm so down!!!" :):) We got started on it right away and she helped me turn this idea into an INCREDIBLE one!! Together we dreamt up something we were both proud of and we made the idea SOOOO MUCH BIGGER. It was SUCH a positive experience from start to finish collaborating with Kelsey Bailey from Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Every step, all the hundreds if not 1000's of messages back and forth, all the time, energy, effort & money that went into this was on purpose and for a purpose. We just couldn't WAIT to help these girls, whoever they were, wherever they were, see themselves the way Christ does. Our number one goal was to Uplift them, bring them to a higher ground and show them they are personally Unstoppable!! We started with stories. We each asked, in our own way, through a model call, for stories of hardship, for trials. I wanted to know why so many women self-hate instead of self-love. What was the reason behind their intense self-hating? Why did they feel they needed to change to be accepted by society? Why don't they feel they can change that false opinion of themselves and see themselves how Christ sees them? I received over a dozen stories each so truly heart breaking, most brought me to tears and I wanted to help them ALL!! Kelsey and I prayed so hard about each woman who contacted us or who we contacted. We were lead to these 12 women. We each ended up asking 6 girls to model for us and within a few short weeks, we had all our models. Excited, nervous and feeling filled with the spirit of the Lord we started on this amazing journey together. All 14 of us. Each woman that will be highlighted in these coming blog posts was chosen not by us, but by the Lord himself!! We were simply his helping hands to make it happen. It was an INCREDIBLE experience to talk that closely with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just wanted to fulfill His vision the best possible way I could and I feel we achieved that with the Lord's help!! We asked the girls to each think, pray and really dig deep when deciding on what word to have represent them. We asked them to choose a word that they felt was one of their biggest STRENGTHS that God gave them!! We wanted them to showcase their best quality and be proud to wear it across their heart!! To celebrate that special gift given to them from God!! We feel each girl truly chose the right word for them!! We then asked our 12 girls to write their story about WHY they chose that word. WHY it is important to them and thank the Lord for gifting them that very special gift. They each paraphrased what they have gone through in their life in their journey to finding their own self-worth. They each talk about their individual trials and why they feel the word they chose empowers them to go through their trials with courage, strength and optimism. They are all so incredible and brave!! Brave enough to share their hearts, trials and triumphs with the world. They are truly inspiring and I can't wait for them to inspire and help you too!! I felt a little while later that the white t-shirt, jeans and empowering word were only the beginning. I saw the music video for Carrie Underwood's Love Wins and I KNEW that's exactly what we were missing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Py8OWAMkns In the finale of that music video they throw colored chalk and it's truly incredible to watch!! I messaged Kelsey and she loved the idea of throwing color for the finale of our photo shoot!! She said, "Oh I LOVE that. Yeah I'm down for that. Lets do that. Have it be a CELEBRATION OF BEAUTY!" and with that our name for the photo shoot was born!! These 12 girls are truly inspiring, they are courageous, they are loving and kind. They're helping "put a world that seems broken together again!!" Their stories will touch your heart, you'll cry with them and celebrate their victories with them. They have found their purpose, they are able to truly see themselves as God sees them, they love who they are and we can't wait to celebrate ALL of this with you too!! So over the next few weeks we are planning to post two BEAUTIFUL women a week. We will post their stories, their light and their beauty through our images <3 <3 You will get to know each wonderful woman personally, you will be able to connect with them on a deeper level and hopefully see yourself more positively through their inspiration and honesty!! All of this was done with the intent to not only help these girls but to help women ALL OVER THE WORLD to start self-loving. To realize they're not alone, that we all feel inadequate sometimes and that's ok. As long as we don't stay there. To celebrate the beauty that is all around us and be happy for others' successes. To STOP comparing and start showing love to everyone you come in contact with. We are all made by God and He truly loves us all!! T h e W h y : I have always been so fascinated with why women hate themselves. Why they are constantly down on themselves. Why, when they look in the mirror all they see are their flaws. Why do we let Satan control how we feel about the beauty GOD GAVE US??!! We were made my God on purpose and He doesn't make mistakes!!!! We are ALL beautiful and it's ok to celebrate that!!!! It's important we celebrate that!!!! So I wanted to help women, all over the world, to start self-loving. To be happy in the skin they've been given. To support each other, to build each other up, to realize we NEED EACH OTHER!! As sisters in Zion, we need each other. I can think of no better way then to have a Celebration of Beauty!! U p N e x t : Over the next few weeks you will get to experience each girl's heart, her beauty and her inspiring story. We will highlight each woman one at a time. They will each have their own spotlight for a few days <3 <3 You will see new images from this photo shoot twice a week!! Both Kelsey and I will be posting these images onto our blogs. Please make sure you check out Kelsey's blog for her take on our Celebration of Beauty photo shoot and to see her GORGEOUS images as well!! https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/blog You will get to experience each girls' journey towards her ultimate goal of self-LOVING!! We are SOOOO very excited to share our entire Celebration of Beauty with you!! I will also be posting on my Taylor Jay Photography Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ so be sure to check out and 'like' #ALLTHETHINGS!!!! A special thanks to ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL MODELS!!!! We couldn't have done this without EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU LOVELY LADIES!!!! THANK YOU a million times over for helping us fulfill a very big dream!! Left to right: Kyla Cecil Shaila Baker Steffani Rowley Cassie Firth Kiri Martin Amanda Lundskog Marcee Carlton Lauralee Hill Mindy Johnson Alexandra Scherzinger Karen Fullmer Christee Schofield Photo credit for the photos of Kelsey and I: Shaun Schofield I couldn't have done this without Kelsey y'all!! That girl is AMAZING!! She's so inspiring, spirited and Uplifting!! She has the BEST ideas and knows how to bring them to life. I was so grateful the Lord told me to ask her. I couldn't have done this, on this great of a scale without her!! THANK YOU KELSEY!!!! Kelsey and I chose words for our white t-shirts too!! I chose the word UNSTOPPABLE. I am NOT defined by my wrong choices, by my sins, I am defined by how God sees me and the potential He KNOWS I can become. I chose the word UNSTOPPABLE because of this quote I recently found: “I tried to throw in the towel, God threw it back and said, WIPE YOUR FACE. YOU’RE ALMOST THERE!!" I am Unstoppable!! A very special thanks to Shaun Schofield with DOZE Videos for being our videographer and documenting every AMAZING & BEAUTIFUL moment of our Celebration of Beauty photo shoot for us!!!! Thank you Shaun!!!! You are soooo INCREDIBLE!!!! Check out & subscribe to Shaun's Youtube.com channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsu0f8IJm3Nv7UpnjElRPdw Do yourself a favor and go 'like' his FB page!! https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I dare you to watch this without tearing up ;) Heroes (we could be) Alesso Why I chose the second verse <3 <3 ANYBODY'S GOT THE POWER They don't see it 'Cause they don't understand Spin around and round for hours YOU AND ME WE GOT THE WORLD IN OUR HANDS Everyday people do Everyday things but I Can't be one of them I know you hear me now WE ARE A DIFFERENT KIND WE CAN DO ANYTHING!! We could be heroes We could be heroes ME AND YOU We could be heroes We could… Something AMAZING, INSPIRING & BEAUTIFUL is coming your way to my Taylor Jay Photography page and it's alllllllll happening THIS FRIDAY!!!! IN TWO DAYS PPL!!!! You do NOT want to miss the preview of this new BIG photography project I've been working on with the INCREDIBLY TALENTED Kelsey Bailey Photography and Shaun Schofield from Doze Videos!!!! It's been a long time coming and now it's FINALLY TIME TO SHOW WHAT WE CREATED!!!! <3 <3 Photo credit: Kelsey Bailey Photography Stay tuned for more details!! This new surprise is coming to you NEXT WEEK!! |
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