I AM A WARRIOR! Shaila's Story A Warrior fights off demons. I am a Warrior. At thirty-eight years old I have fought so many different demons finding my way through life. At one point I felt that fighting alongside the demons was in my best interest. Boy was I wrong! I was led to believe that the pain and suffering I inflicted upon myself was healthy. It wasn’t until I fought daily to wash the demons out of my life, by getting sober through recovery, that I was able to find the church. Through conversion I was able to find peace in my heart and was no longer running from the ugly that was holding me down. I am an Addict with a list of addictions. I still fight the good fight against addiction daily, but I have been winning for many years now! The day I decided to ask for help from the Relief Society Presidency (a group of women at church) was the day that changed my life forever! Those sisters made me feel welcomed and accepted. They never judged me and treated me as an equal. I found my best self when I was in the service of others. I was able to be the Mom my sons needed, aided in getting my spouse back to church after many years of inactivity and blessed with another one of Heavenly Father’s children to care for. I now fight to keep being a good example to my boys and pray they will never have to walk the same path I have walked. I chose the word WARRIOR because of my Native Hawaiian background. My ancestors were Warriors and I know because of them I have been guided and lifted through some of the hardest times in my life. Shaila is our sixth BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Shaila?!?! Shaila is truly an amazing lady!! From the moment I saw her I was fascinated and in awe of her beauty. She is SO STUNNING and I couldn't wait to photograph her!! I was so overly excited to photograph her that the very FIRST thing I said to her was, 'Shaila, oh my gosh! You're not white!' hahaha It came out sounding soooo awkward and awful but I was just so nervous and excited to photograph a BEAUTIFUL Hawaiian woman!! What I meant to say was, ' I am so grateful and excited to photograph a beautiful Hawaiian woman with such a lovely skin tone!! ' Living in Utah I don't get the opportunity very often to photograph as many colors of skin as I'd like to :):) I was SO EXCITED to photograph her and see how the light enhanced her flawless skin!! I did not know Shaila before the photo shoot but I did know her story. I couldn't WAIT to meet her and get to know her more!! She has the sweetest personality and the best smile!! I truly felt of the Savior's love for her when I photographed her!! She has come SO FAR and is such an inspiration for what AMAZING blessings can happen and WILL HAPPEN when you put God first instead of your addictions!! Shaila is a woman of GREAT PURPOSE and you can see it in how she carries herself. Shaila's story truly touched my heart. We all have our past or present addictions, including myself, and sometimes it can feel hopeless and impossible to get out, but!! Shaila has shown us it is VERY possible!! It is possible to let go of those chains we feel are weighing us down, climb out of the deep pit we feel we are living in and can never get out of, and rise out and above to become that INCREDIBLE woman we were meant to become!! We are capable of achieving our best selves, the woman we were designed by our loving Heavenly Father to be, no matter what our circumstance is now or was. Our lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made it possible for eternal forgiveness, full and complete forgiveness, for a fresh start, a clean slate, as if it never happened. How completely and totally AMAZING is that?!?! We are ALL warriors, fighting our own battles but as we lean on our Savior and His loving atonement for help, guidance and love HE WILL BE THERE TO HELP US!!!! We love you Shaila!!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH SHAILA FOR BEING APART OF THIS!!!! You are brave, strong, a warrior for good 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 SHAILA, 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 SHAILA!!!! 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 Shaila Baker and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-am-a-warrior-shailas-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 Shaila's amazing, real and raw story!!!!
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