This month's Share Six theme is {Artificial Light}.

I think sometimes artificial light gets misinterpreted as strictly camera flash, but it can be so much more than that. I am very much a natural light photographer and haven't touched my flash since I shot weddings many moons ago, so I am way out of practice and was never much good with flash to begin with. I used to use flash when photographing our oldest daughter as a baby because our house can get pretty dark, but after a while I learned that I preferred finding the shadows and highlights and moody, low light images after all. Still, this theme helped me get out of my rut of the same types of images and practice with artificial light. I think it's always good to stray from your typical style once in a while to experiment.

Sooooo...I won't lie, guys. I totally slacked this month. Quite honestly, if I had been more diligent and prepared, I would have gone with the {dreamy} theme and freelensed some beautiful flowers and light instead.

But this entire month as I was mulling over what to blog about for the {dreams} theme, I had this idea of including my personal dreams that have been fulfilled. To some, they may seem trite, but they are really what I've always wanted most for my life.

So first, I wanted to marry a man who loved me, shared my religious beliefs and moral values, who was funny and kind, and I found him. He has been through so much with me. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease during the first year we were married and had a major surgery just days before our first anniversary. I was pretty gross at the time because my body had been through so much, my face was ballooned from the prednisone, and I had spent 6 weeks in the hospital. We were poor because we were young newlyweds with part time $7/hour jobs and a huge pile of medical bills, paying for healthcare premiums out of pocket. He stood by me. He cared for me. He calmed and reassured me. And a couple of years into our marriage, he surprised me by saving for a trip to Germany, my lifelong dream. We spent 10 days in Munich, and it was amazing, and I was bitten by the travel bug. There isn't anyone else I would rather travel with, to explore the world and share adventures with.

We tried to have children for 6 1/2 years, and during that time, we decided to travel to Ireland...and then again a few months later. Talk about a dream! I still have dreams about Ireland in my sleep, and I wake up longing to hop on a plane and be there. The scenery is incredible and magical, the people are kind and friendly, and the food is ethereal. My dream is to go back, or better yet, win the lottery so we can have a house there and a house here. :)

But then after 6 1/2 long, frustrating, heart wrenching years, God blessed us with our oldest daughter and fulfilled my dream of having a child.  She was a miracle for sure, endured some medical scares of her own, but is now healthy and perfect. She is tiny but fierce, sweet, stubborn, beautiful, smart and funny. I had no idea how amazing being a mom is! And this image here is the dream of getting a nap mid-meal out of a non-napping kid! 

It wasn't long and we were dreaming of another baby, and again it was a bit of a struggle, but then came our Baby Jo, and God fulfilled another dream. She is also feisty, funny, smart and beautiful in her own way, as well as cuddly and affectionate. Having two little girls who are best friends fills my heart to overflowing.

And then we were thrilled for another baby, and we realized our dream of a bigger family was within reach. We are expecting Baby #3 late November, and we couldn't be happier.

So we had to take part in the American Dream and buy a minivan, which was not my dream but I've learned to actually enjoy it....and truthfully, the kids think it's the coolest thing ever.

Confession: I'm a huge chicken when it comes to street photography.

I am hugely drawn to this genre, and I think after my kids are grown and I've lost my muses to adulthood, I will turn to something like street photography or farm photography or something which captures the spirit of places and people. My goal is to do a #100strangers project, which I learned about through Mike Wade of Rural Life Photography who does it so well, or photograph the faces of the homeless people in our city.

But right now I'm chicken and I don't know all of the rules (Do you always need a photo consent form in public areas? Do you ask first or after you take the photo?), so I pretend that I'm taking photos of my family and sneakily snag a photo of the rest of the scene and people in it. 

We live in a fairly rural area near a smallish city, but we're not far from Chicago, so I love capturing the city life when we're there. There are so many facets of humanity and ideas in a big city, and it's easy to forget that when we're cozied up and a little bit isolated  on our five acres. Don't get me wrong, I love the country and wish there were even fewer people in our area instead of the exploding population we're experiencing locally, but it's refreshing to see the city for a few days, take it all in, and remember that it's a big world out there.