Reading & realizing | questions from my heart

So I just had this slam in the face revelation.
My family & I are road tripping to Ohio for a small
Spring break getaway. The trip is over 4 hours one way so I
decided to bring along the book I ordered from the library last week.

I've only made it to page 15 && already I'm having some of the
best, yet toughest realizations about my entire being.

     The book: Dave Ramsey - EntreLeadership

Yes, usually I'll provide you all with a little link but it's not so easy while I'm on my cell phone to navigate. Then again it's not so easy to blog either but my heart felt completely overwhelmed with
the need to say { I really mean write this, but say sounds better}  this out loud right now. These thoughts are going to change my everyday life!

The book is talking about being a boss & how you need the right kind of boss to drive this point home after a life experience he (Dave) had he says 'having children doesn't make you a good
parent, it means you had sex. That's all'. So wow, umm there's that!! Yes I've heard sayings similar to this but it's not about just being a parent, it's about so much more.

I thought to myself these things about me & my life, in no perfect order..


Did I just have kids.... Or am I a Mother?

Did I just get married.... Or am I a wife?

Do I only speak... Or do I also listen?

Do I only complain... Or do I also act?

Do I only forgive... Or do I also forget?

Do I just get baptized... Or do I really follow Jesus?

Do I just talk to my acquaintances... Or am I am friend?

Was I only born.... Or do I also live?


Some heavy, hard questions are now on my heart to truly figure out the answers to..

 It's just a day to realize, there's no such thing as being 'FINE' how you are and people should 'love me for me'.. That would make me a self involved jerk face. There's always room to grow, there's always room to think about who were are and how we truly impact the lives of those around us.

The more we truly love each other, the more we love ourselves. Thee end 😘😘

P.S. Please don't hate me for the typos proof reading is also hard on my teeny tiny iPhone screen ;)


<3 til next time,
StaceB

2016 Wedding + Portait Photography | Champaign, Illinois Wedding Photographer

    Hello There!

      My name is Stacey Burt || Phone: 217-597-2250
email: staceb_eep@yahoo.com

    I'm the lead photographer for Emerald Enchantments Photography you can click there 

& visit my website, I'd only love that ;)

         

  You know that moment  you've been dreaming of
where you breath in & just realize
you are a newly wed & you have the rest of your life to
be husband & wife together.. We capture that

I'm a wife of soon to be 10 years, a mommy of the most gorgeous girl & I love Jesus
My 2nd shooter is my best friend of like forever, her name is Andrea
& she is amazing.

About my vision:

 

I love all of what I create...
At wedding I just love the pretty,
 real flowers
{I just HAVE to smell them every time}
ring shots
detail shots
but most of all
family -- family is so important
how many times are you all together?
We will pretty much plan the timeline of your day for you
I always tell my brides..
I want to help you get the most out of your time with us :)


onto the sessions..
 lifestyle sessions speak volumes to me, they are what I love
pick a place you've loved to be
with your family
call me to come capture it
&
I'm there

The beach
In a flower field
at sunset outdoors pretty much anywhere
I'm there

We don't do your mall style images, this is all organic,  real

& your family will love it

because they SMILE but it's not forced

Your babies, your life -- well, it's being captured
 in it's most natural form
& nothing is more intense than that

If you think I can't make someone smile, you haven't met me yet
I'm THEE silliest
I've ripped my pants at a session, fell in small divot once (completely on accident both times)
trust me, I'll get them to laugh.
I'm just real, I love all people & kids they just love me

 Do I pose you too??

YES
I'm like the best of both worlds

I fix things.. I wont let you look bad

for the most part however I let the session have it's on natural flow

At weddings I also do a lot of standard family,  fun wedding party poses  

& I love that so much!! But if you want more than that for your day, you want a story told

ohh how I would sure love to tell it!

I'd love to chat with you so give me an email or call today!

staceb_eep@yahoo.com

or 

217-597-2250

<3<3<3

Stacey Burt

2016 Brides + Portrait Clients | Hoopeston, Illinois Wedding Photographer

    Hello There!

      My name is Stacey Burt

    I'm the lead photographer for Emerald Enchantments Photography you can click there 

& visit my website, I'd only love that ;)

           Capturing Weddings & Portraits 

    You know that moment  you've been dreaming of
where you breath in & just realize
you are a newly wed & you have the rest of your life to
be husband & wife together.. We capture that

I'm a wife of soon to be 10 years, a mommy of the most gorgeous girl & I love Jesus
My 2nd shooter is my best friend of like forever her name is Andrea
& she is amazing.

About my vision:

 

I love all of what I create...
At wedding I just love  all the pretties
the real flowers
{I just HAVE to smell them everytime}
ring shots
detail shots
lovie newlywed shots of-freaking-course
family -- family is so important
how many times are you all together?
We will pretty much plan the timeline of your day for you
I always tell my brides
I want to help you get the most out of your time with us :)


onto the sessions..
 lifestyle sessions speak volumes to me, they are what I love
pick a place you've loved to be with your family
call me to come capture it
&&
I'm there

The beach
In a flower field
At sunset in a field
I'm there

We don't do your mall style images, this is all organic, real
& your family will love it

because they SMILE but it's not forced

Your babies, your life -- well, it's being captured
 in it's most natural form
& nothing is more intense than that

If you think I can't make someone smile, you haven't met me yet
I'm THEE silliest
I've ripped my pants at a session, fell in small divot once (completely on accident both times)
trust me, I'll get them to laugh.
I'm just real, I love all people & kids they just love me

 Do I pose you too??

YES
I'm like the best of both worlds

I fix things.. I wont let you look bad

for the most part I let the session have it's own natural flow

At weddings I also do a lot of standard family,  fun wedding party poses  

& I love that so much!! But if you want more than that for your day, you want a story told

ohh how I would sure love to tell it!

I'd love to chat with you so give me an email or call today!

staceb_eep@yahoo.com

or 

217-597-2250

<3<3<3

Stacey Burt

2016 Brides + Portrait Clients | Danville, Illinois Wedding Photographer

 
 Hello There!

      My name is Stacey Burt || Phone: 920-222-0598 || email: staceb_eep@yahoo.com

    I'm the lead photographer for Emerald Enchantments Photography you can click there 

& visit my website, I'd only love that ;)

 We are located in Hoopeston Illinois
A little about me:
I'm a wife of 10 years almost, mommy of the most gorgeous girls & I love Jesus
My best friend of like forever is my assistant & 2nd shooter.
She's so amazing!

       Capturing Weddings & Portraits are our specialty

           you know that moment you've dreamt about where you breath in & just realize
you are a newly wed & you have the rest of your life to
be husband & wife together.. Well, we capture that!

 

I love all of what I create
At wedding I love the pretty,
 real flowers
I just HAVE to smell them everytime
ring shots
detail shots
but most of all
family -- family is so important
how many times are you all together?
We will pretty much plan the timeline of
your day for you
I always tell my bride
I want to help you get the most out of your time with us :)


onto the sessions..
 lifestyle sessions speak volumes to me, they are what I love
pick a place you've always loved to go
with your family
call me to come capture it
&&
I'm there

The beach
In a flower field
at sunset outdoors pretty much anywhere
I'm there

We don't do your mall style images, this is all organic,  real

& your family will love it

because they SMILE but it's not forced

Your babies, your life -- well, it's being captured
 in it's most natural form
& nothing is more intense than that

If you think I can't make someone smile, you haven't met me yet
I'm THEE silliest
I've ripped my pants at a session, fell in small divot once (completely on accident both times)
trust me, I'll get them to laugh.
I'm just real, I love all people and kids they just love me

 Do I pose you too??

YES
I'm like the best of both worlds

I fix things.. I wont let you look bad

for the most part however I let the session have it's on natural flow

At weddings I also do a lot of standard family,  fun wedding party poses  

& I love that so much!! But if you want more than that for your day, you want a story told

ohh how I would sure love to tell it!

I'd love to chat with you so give me an email or call today!

staceb_eep@yahoo.com

or 

920-222-0598

<3<3<3

Stacey Burt

DIY Hula-hooping in Hoopeston, Illinois | Hoopeston, Illinois Wedding Photographer

I quadruple dog dare you to say that title 10 times really fast.. Just kidding 

What fun!! I've been having making these homemade hula hoops.

It's a simple ingredient list to make these from our/your local Menards

You'll need:

 black irrigation tubing this is three-quarter inch thick

Cost: Less than $13 for a roll (makes like a billion, jk but really like 7 or more)

Some of the plastic tube connectors 

Cost: 17 cents each

Painters tape: $2.00 each

You can order sparkly tapes just for this off etsy

Get some pipe cutters or a box cutter (be careful)

*I assume no responsibility for severed limbs or cuts  ;)

How to size -- well, I've read the rule of thumb is make the circle meet your belly button

yes it will be big, just listen to me I promise ;)
The bigger it is the easier to hula with my dear.

 Heat the ends in hot water after cutting, put the tube connector in and PRESTO

Soooooo, I'm excited because in this really short time of making them

 I was asked to host a hula-hooping event this summer for

first graders in town!! If you follow my personal page you know I've been hooping & making hoops

the last couple weeks. I love it & man I rock at the hula, so does Andrea

it's my goal to get some ladies together & do a fun little exercise class in Hoopeston

 Here's a link to my IG of my girlies >>hula-hooping<<

they are just the most presh ever. feel free to follow me there<3<3

Get outside && get to hula-hooping!

Until next time

-StaceB

2015 Reset Conference experience

I had the best weekend this past weekend

I attended the 2015 Reset Conference

My experience/take/emotions about it in single words

Amazing. Powerful . Knowledge
. Community . Insight .

Powerful . Respect . Investing . Creative . Fun . Intense . Heart-changing

Truth . Encouragement . Determination


I could think of many more wonderful words to describe my experience
but I would be going on all day, for real.

If you didn't go this year you missed out for sure
The mindset behind this conference was just amazing!
I never would have expected to actually meet Katelyn James
let alone have her be so down to earth & not full of herself in the slightest bit.
The fact that the majority of the speakers were there the entire day, connecting
feeling the vibe of the crowd. Wanting to really be a part of this event
really just stood out to me!

me after meeting & hugging Katelyn :)

You follow these people on platforms like instagram & part
of you begins to wonder how social media has
affected them, I've seen so many people let it go straight to their head.

But Katelyn got up & talked about how one of her dreams are nothing compared
to what God has in store. Let me just tell you I was grounded at that point,
I was listening to all of these speakers with my ears, eyes & heart wide open.
All of the speakers were just fantastic, I truly felt it was the perfect mix of intelligence
such a perfect level of information on how to grow & manage a business
along with having a personal life.


I've never felt so much encouragement in one place


We all walked away with the same ideas, the same things to start implementing in our
own business && that may turn some of you off, but not me..
Not everyone is going to be put into the same position as you && NO ONE
can replace that unique quality that you have as a business & that's what this
conference is about to me.

It's a reset button to push when your mind is over-crowded with
the bad parts of this business, whatever that may be in your world
we all know how much it can make you feel defeated.
This year's conference was for me!

I'm so thankful to Kellie Penn & Rebakah Albaugh for putting all of this
together in our area. The amount of hard work that goes into planning
this &

making sure it's catered to over 150 individuals can not be easy!

End  cell phone photo of the speakers minus

<3<3 Thanks Ladies <3<3

Capital E for Encouragement| dreaming && not caring who thinks what

I have a lot of things I like to say.. I like to think I'm a funny lady

it's been said to me a lot 'you need to be a comedian'

maybe I will someday.. When we lived near Madison I knew they had

comedy clubs && improv nights 

it was a little more than a thought in my head about doing it

Heck, I'd talk to complete strangers about it.

Of course I'm sure there's a crowd of people who don't like

me or my humor that are giving a ridiculously hard, loud eye roll at this very moment in time

THING IS..

I don't care. I don't care. I don't care

^^ {I may have sung that}^^

This  isn't about me being a comedian (I'm fine where I am)  btw this is about dreams in general

See, I put on my 'war stripes' today... GRR!!

Let's chat about having a dream && making it happen && just not giving a crap who you upset..

       Sometimes I swear it begins to feel a little pressuring

following your heart/dreams, it's really kinda like Rapunzel I just thought of her in the movie where she's 

a little beat down, sad, at her wits end about the ruffians and thugs trying to turn Flynn in.. 

>>>See clip here <<<

'haven't any of you ever had a dream??'

That's how I've felt sometimes.. It's a pretty big deal right??! Having a dream.

Watching it rise, watching it fall ..learning to be the best you can at it..

I get called corny I guess for my 'capturing your precious moments' tagline

so be it., it's MY business literally and pun intended, feel free to make your own corny tag line if you want, I won't judge.  I'm a corny gal, I'm emotional .. This is not new info to anyone!
I just wanna dream without interruption okay? Don't you? Don't we all?

                                                       
                                    Some of my dreams have come true, others not so much....

Being a Mommy was a big time dream of mine, I wont lie I always thought I'd have boys though

girls just weren't my favorite growing up I've had about 10 solid girlfriends in my life.

 I accomplished Mommyhood with not one but 2 gorgeous Burt girls 

to adore every day God decides to bless us to spend together.

I hope I'm an okay Mom in their eyes

it all depends on the day & time or if they are grounded what they will say

and I've got the best years yet to come, but it's okay. It's much better than okay
It's my childhood first comes love, then marriage then  comes  Stacey in a baby carriage dream, right?!

Dreams that failed so far for me are:

Traveling across Europe

being an actress or comedian

 singing famously  (my voice is nay these days)

playing the guitar with excellence & the saxophone

 write/publish a book (have a few I've been working on for years)

I had a poem published at DACC like 6 years ago

& posted an excerpt on my personal fb page one day like last year but that's it

I'm not giving up on any of these things except maybe the saxophone

&&&&

I don't care. I don't care. I don't care 

what anyone says

{singing again}

 My personal/business/relationship/life motto:

'I make my own definition of success'

See you can't make it for me & no one take it from me either

 that's soooo gorgeous to me. 

I say (if what I say matters, if not that's cool)

Be a great person,  be super true to who you are

no matter what's said just know

 hold that head up high && continue striding on

if you let it stop you 

then later if you wanna start over or go for something else

all you did was allow that

problem to waste your own precious time.

Even worst you gave it rent free heart/brain space! Not cool

It's a rough, tough game being a creative 

I said it the other day, I'll say it again

Anyone who puts themselves out there artistically

or creates something all their own

is to be commended, not taken lightly

You are already an achiever so congratulations!

Stand up on your own little pedestal whether it's big or tall put on your own war stripes &

remember your achievements are personal to you & no one can say it's they aren't significant!

Til next time,

StaceB 

xoxxo