So many of my tog friends are doing 365 projects, they are having a blast as well as I am. I’ve even learned a few things or two.

Some of my friends are doing Iphone only, certain topics, anything goes and lunar calendar. I thought it would be nice to share a few with you here and let you see some of their incredible and fun work as we grow together in a 365 project!

James of JLS Studios
James is doing a cell phone only with a few exceptions!

John of John Lo Photographer
John is doing a Lunar calendar and started on Chinese New Year.

Robert of Robert Whetton Photography
Bobster is doing a 365, but posts his images weekly on his blog.

John of John Rose Photography
John is using creativity and shooting challenging shots daily!

Trudy of Tru Shots Photography
Trudy is doing a blog post and image each and every day of the year!

She’s one of best buds and doing an awesome 365 blog site
Kathy from Hayes Photography

I know there are a ton of other photographers out there doing the same thing.

I’ve personally found it challenging and really sharpening up my skills of seeing images all around me. I can’t wait to make it to the end of the 365 and see what we have all learned.

Keep following us all daily and add your comments, that means a lot to us. It keeps us going and gives us direction!

Oh and for me…here is my 365: Lisa Nikole, 365, the project, the commitment!

Every so often this photographer gets asked to shoot some amazing things, and every so often I wonder… HOW am I going to do this?

Slime day, Feb. 14th, 2010…yes, happens to be valentines day also. I was down in our children’s area and getting ready to shoot… Slime!

How fun! I have to say it was a challenge. I had no idea how they were going to get slimed, nor did I know if my camera was going to end up as part of the sliming.

I have to tell you a bit about our children’s department, first I’m taking a guess, but, I am going to say there were about 800 kids down there between both services, probably more, but that is a good guesstimate.

There are a ton of amazing helpers and staff down there but the two that stick out the most in my mind are Mendy and Tommy. Talk about energy, these two if unglued could serious create rocket fuel. They are amazing for the 724 kids (children’s area) and to not take away from the seriousness, they both came bring amazing light to the kids lives and cause them to really think about bible principals and a daily walk with God!

Everything and I mean EVERYTHING at COTR (Church on the Rock) is done with excellence and I see that each and every time I get to shoot a new area or become part of something that is going on.

Just a side note, we had a concert last week and we needed a couple signs made fast for a broken water fountain, so we ask Jamie if she can do this for us real fast…Jamie goes and returns with two very nice computer printed signs. I laughed and said, ummmm.. you could have just wrote on a paper towel *you had to see the look on her face* and she responded…ummm no, everything here is done in excellence. Man, did I ever strike gold in finding COTR!

So, back to the sliming, it was a blast and I just had to share a few of the pictures with you, because, well… you’re awesome and sharing is what I do!

Slime me, slime me... yeah they all wanted slimed!

This is Mendy and friend... uh huh.. see what I mean.. she's a blast!

This is Tommy, and yes that's a water gun..

Looks fun, huh! You know you wanted to be there!

These next few are of Mendy getting slimed, she tried to cover her hair but at the last minute said, “forget it”… not sure if she regretted that or not?

and this..this is Jamison, he used the shower cap approach, I’m not sure if it helped much!

Okay okay, you all know I had a good time in Arizona right?

Are you kidding me? I had a wonderful time and I made amazing new friendships and increased ones I already had.

During that time I spent a lot of time with the girls of COTR Mid-West Movement. We were all in the same car for hours and it was really a lot of fun. They were all great blessings to me and I enjoyed listening and talking to them all.

Once we left White River and got to the hotel in Phoenix, I wanted to do a photo shoot of them, so we did a fast shoot one morning and I thought I would share some of the images with you.

Wow, does time fly…

It’s been a little over a year since I moved to Missouri.

I came here crying so much that when my husband and I went to have utilities turned on or open up accounts I could not stop crying and I knew they thought he abducted me or something, no jokes, it was pretty bad!

I determined never to make a friend and felt I was losing every friend I ever had. I left my daughter and her family in Ohio and that,was something that devastated me for a while. But I had to go on and thank God for the internet and webcams… we made it through and in that separation both of us learned more lessons.

A dear friend asked me about my story, moving my business and making a success in just one year. She prompted this blog!

So the story is like this..I lived in Ohio most of my life, my husband got a transfer to Missouri and we decided as a family, this is the road we wanted to travel. My daughter still lived in Ohio so I knew my Ohio based business would be fine.

Starting over was not the adventure I wanted in life, but as I look back now, I am so glad for the move and the new friendships and the amazing people I have been exposed to.

Sometimes living in a small town you forget there is a great big world out here and there is so much to learn, if you just open the door and step outside, sure a move of this size is NOT for everyone, and I thought for sure I was that everyone, but turns out… I had a lot to learn, even in my own attitudes that I thought were so finite, I was exposed to things that made me take a second look at the condition of my heart!

The first thing we did was find a church, we knew that was the most important thing to our survival and it did not take long before a door was opened up and I now attend the most amazing church, filled with the most awesome people in the world! Here’s the link if you want to check them out: COTR

I started to get my paperwork together, it’s important that when you are starting up, or moving on, to make sure you do it right, don’t play around with things that will come back to get you later, so I found out exactly what I needed to do, local, city and state and started all over again.

Starting over gave us the chance to change our name from what it was Creations Photography (talk about a dated name) to Lisa Nikole. We never did like the name Creations but it’s where we started, we’re just happy where we ended!

Social Networking made all the difference in the world. IF, you are a business person and you shun social networking, you’re going to be lost shortly in a world that no longer exist. Some fear the internet, but I say bring it on. As much bad as you can say about it, I can say good with proof!

I started to connect with Saint Louis photographers and even hosted a first photographer get together, which by the way, we will be doing again, this year!

I attended one bridal show and spoke with many other people about business and visited local bridal shops, florists and the Chamber of Commerce.

The doors were opened up and jobs just started to come, at first it was pretty even with Ohio, but this year I can say Missouri has broken wide open for us and I’m loving meeting all the amazing couples that have contacted us to be their wedding photographer.

That’s the short story *smiles*… and here’s the dramatic ending….

As I write this blog, my daughter and her family are traveling across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to make their home in Missouri.

Don’t worry Ohio, we’ve not forgotten you, we’ve never been one state photographers we shoot all over this amazing world. But for us to be together again means only one thing…

Look out Missouri!!!!

In closing about the Arizona Mission Trip I have to say I’m still thinking about the people who touched my heart.

Thank you to everyone that entrusted us with this trip, your children and the awesome responsibility to be a light to the world!

So without going on and on and on about stuff I’ve already said in the past 3 blog posts, I wanted to leave you with some shots of the people who I got to spend time with, worship with and hear their life story.
The faces of White River Arizona…

When I came home from Arizona last week, I got off the plane around eleven and took our bus back to the church where my sons picked us up. I can’t remember what time I got home, but I do know that after I unpacked and did some laundry I was in bed around three and up again around 5:30. I was shooting a gym event in Illinois.

Now I get to sit back and reflect on a trip, a people and chance to change!

Whenever you are given a chance to give back, you are always given a chance to change. I was honored to be one of 21 of the greatest people on the plant as we all set out to “make a difference”. What made the difference was what changed in me and how much I learned about hope, life and love from the amazing people of White River and White River Assembly of God!

I had more experiences then I can mention, and I’ve mentioned so many in the prior posts and video’s.

I’ve seen hope in hopelessness, and I’ve seen love in a land that love seems to have abandoned!

There was painting a sanctuary, feeding the hungry, walking among the locals, and for me…. the faces. Nothing NOTHING can compare to conversation, eye contact and listening, stopping long enough to care to hear the stories of Alvis, Lucy, Rudy and the list goes on. Seeing the face of a small boy that just sweeps your breath away and wondering what the future will hold for him! Hoping that somehow, what you’ve done in a week will affect him for his lifetime! Life is so precious and when it touches you so deep, that you genuinely care, then that is change, change I am so thankful for!

Pastors School in Phoenix was a whole new setting and to be a refreshing but, the people we left up in the mountains was forever a part of my daily thoughts and prayers.

Pastors school, was empowering, awing and just one big WOW! There were classes by an invisible man (yes I sat in on a class about that), there was a mountain, that I was absolutely fine to climb 1/2 way and enjoy the view from there and events that would make your jaw drop.

It was all such an awesome experience, I won’t ever forget and I am forever grateful for such an opportunity!

Stained Glass window at the church that hosted the Movement!

Millie's mom and nephew!

I believe her granddaughter was interpreting in apache to her

I still see his face! I'd have brought him home with me if I could have!

Lucy, she loved seeing her image after I took it! She's beautiful!

The Movement! Some really amazing people!

Pastors School, I got to play with some amazing lighting!

Now I've seen it all! Starbucks!!!!

One of so many amazing dramatical experiences at Phoenix First Assembly

The days wound down and it was time for us to leave, this lady was thinking about the drive DOWN the mountain. I was a bit concerned, but it was not so bad…sometimes our minds can play a big role into our fears. Saying good-bye was a bitter sweet thing, some of the kids from the movement would not be back next year, so this would be their last time visiting White River. First trip, last trip it was an experience and it wasn’t over yet….

Phoenix, was waiting for us and Tommy Barnett’s Pastors School.

Oh yes and a mountain, prayer mountain, that I was going to climb!

Arizona was much warmer and the hotel we stayed in was beautiful. We were once again busy from the time we got there till the time we left, it’s just part of fitting it all in and not missing a moment. You just do what you have to do.

Phoenix First Assembly was the church we went to for the meetings and what a set up. WOW. The dramas, music and ministry was amazing.

The drama was amazing, their plays are put on by over 600 volunteers and would put New Yorks Broadway to shame, no really! Angels floated in the air, live pyrotechnics and people dedicated to what they were doing.

The music… Press Play, okay you have to hear them, they are pretty amazing. Coffey was there, American Idol contestant Michael Sarver and Sinbad!

and you have to check out the Dream Center…want to support a good work? Here is your chance!!!

I got to attend a couple classes and it was fun, but most fun of all was watching everyone else react to what was going on. I had my run of the place, myself and the video guy Sean, we were everywhere in that place and I’m very sure he got some amazing footage, HE even got on stage!!!

It was a packed 9 days, was it 9 days? I can’t even remember but it was such an honor and blessing to be able to participate and get to know everyone and work side by side, by some of the most amazing people in the world, our own MidWest Movement!

Thank you all so much… and yes, Christina, your words are coming I promise!

Oh and that mountain. hmmm, I made it half way, then it did not matter anymore. I was high enough to feel the presence of God!

Okay, so here is where I get to tell you what we did. Normally what happens is ministry, drama, music and a drawing of people from every corner of the reservation, this year was different.

Due to the snow, most basketball games were cancelled and basketball is a BIG deal on the reservation, so by the time we got their, the snow stopped and the games were on. What this meant was the services would have been bare, so instead of the normal flow, we flowed the way God wanted us too. Everything happens for a reason.

So, we cleaned and painted and moved and removed and cleared out and redid. We repainted the entire sanctuary, moving out all the chairs, covering every fan, removing all fixtures and wall plates, covered the carpet and went to town. What a difference. We put the church back in order for Sundays Service.

The men had a men’s meeting while the woman went with Hope Feeding to a small church that opened it’s doors to whomever wanted to eat and they were not only fed, they were served! This is where we really got to interact with the people and listen to their stories.

Bashes is a general store in the area, we got to visit for a tail gate they had where local vendors sold items. What happened there was a real experience into life on the reservation, and we had Tank. Tank is a young man with a talent that some may think not very “godly” but I can tell you, if we did not have Tank doing his popping, locking and moving, we would have not had drawn the crowd we had. God will use us, we just have to let him! Sure we had a few surprises, but all in all, we had some great conversations and everyone was invited to church that Sunday… surprise was, most of them came!

There were two very touching drama’s performed and moving music. I got to sit in on a Sunday service in both Apache and English. WOW!!! Something about people who are really reaching out to God, they have nothing else to reach out, some have tried other things, every thing. I talked with one man who was an alcoholic, he told me about passing out and waking up by the road outside the church, had no idea how he got there… looked and the church and thought… “I wonder what it’s like in there” He passed out again, but in time he ended up coming and is now one of the regular members of the church.

My honor was taking pictures of the people, it took a few days to feel comfortable in my role, but from the youngest to the oldest, it was an honor. Their faces are deep with emotion and in some you can see the trail of life that has taken them to where they are now. Pain, Sorrow, joy and love. A people just about forgotten by everyone around them, a nation inside a nation. A proud people. Apache’s are warriors! I was so deeply humbled watching and learning about them! As strong as the features of their faces are the features of their hearts. Very open, loving and giving. Very strong and determined.

Not a day goes by…that I don’t think of something I learned or experienced. I’m overwhelmed when I think about the things I saw and the people I got to photograph!

I can speak for myself… I know we were sent there to minister to them, but I learned more in those few days then I’ve learned in a long time, but watching and being quiet and observing.

I’ll be putting up a blog post of personal thoughts next week. I’m trying to stay focuses on the Movement and all that transpired in such a short time, it went by fast.

Thanks to COTR and Midwest Movement for allowing me this awesome opportunity. Thank you for trusting me with a van of awesome people and an open door into the lives of some of the most amazing people I’ve met!

I had the distinct honor to travel with an amazing group of young people to White River Arizona, Apache Tribe.

I have to tell you now that I have made 3 video’s to cover this event and will show them to you over the course of this coming few days.

Midwest Movement is a group of select young people from my church that spend 10 months of their lives: giving, learning and doing. I can’t speak enough about the maturity that I saw, let alone the selflessness they exhibited in the days I was with them.

I said it so often they all just kinda looked at me, but honestly, there were 16 people together in some tough environment and I did not see one instance of anything other then love, help, understanding, kindness and dying to ones self. Sure, there were little things, but honestly so little I don’t even need to mention them. I’m so proud of what I saw and that I got to be a part of that. I’m also thrilled to have made 16 new friends!

I’m trying to figure out how to tell you all what happened in the days I was gone. I guess the best way is at the beginning. We left STL bright and early and boarded our plane to Arizona, When we got to Arizona we drove up and I mean UP to White River where they had just dug out from a major snowstorm… it was COLD!

The movement stayed in a small church where they would be working and ministering, and as things had it, nothing was meant to be the same and there were a lot of changes that took place. They slept on beds of 8-10 chairs put together. Breakfast was always good, in fact the food was always very good, we also had a chance to experience authentic Apache food: Fry bread, Oven Bread, Apache Burgers and more.

For me, it was all about pictures and it took me a couple days to get comfortable taking pictures of a people who were not accustomed to a photographer in their face, but… I said earlier, take a picture of someone and show them their image and tell them how beautiful they are, and they smile and you’ve made a friend!

I learned a lot about Reservation life and my heart soon opened wide to accept a people, I’d not really thought a lot about till now. I think daily about the people who touched my life, the faces I saw, and the things I experienced.

Hope took on a whole new meaning to me! I saw young people praying and I wondered, how hard is it to have Hope here? Unemployment 80-85%, suicide attempts increasing and drinking and drugs seem to be a normal way of life for most…then…then there are the people making a change, and they are! I heard countless stories of the power of prayer. In this small church, that was cleaned, painted and lived in is making huge dents in an otherwise hopeless situation. The power of prayer is one thing, but the power of a group of people acting, doing and giving is another….Actions!!!! Love was abounding and I was again, sooo very blessed to have been asked to go and experience it.

so part one…

I wanted to touch bases here and make sure you knew I was still alive.

I’ve been on an amazing adventure with a group of young people called Mid West Movement, I’ll be blogging about it in the near future. I’m working on the images now.

BUT, I wanted to get something up and remind you all I’m still here and very much active.

Working on some amazing things and trying to get some things done and new ideas off the books and into the real!

Till then, I wanted to update you on my 365 project, I’ve been off a few days, catching up and now, I’m back on track!

So here is the link, go enjoy and tell me what you think

These are iphone images only and one taken a day for 365 days, never know what a commitment is till you do one of these and how it really has you thinking and looking for new and creative ideas!

CLICK HERE!!!!!

Here is a sneak of a few of the images