Aunty D.

Every child deserves another adult, beyond mom and dad, to show a keen interest in them. For Cardon and Lincoln that's Aunty D. The most amazing part is that she doesn't reserve said affection for my children alone. . . Aunty D loves ALL children EVERYWHERE. She helps them feel safe, loved and secure, always, and in everything. Today, let's all be a little more like Aunty D, and reach out in love to the children around us.

For Fun.

To My Hawaii Friends.

Hello All. . . we have 5 spots available in the house we rent out here in Laie for Summer Term. . . July/August. We generally rent to males, but if you know a group of female students looking for a place we'll happily consider renting it to females. We had planned originally to put a family in there beginning in July, but as plans have changed, we will now be re-opening the house to students. Rent is $375 for a shared room $400 for a private. If you're interested, or know someone who's still looking for a house for summer term, please let us know!

We also have a studio apartment that rents for $800 a month which is also available through July and August.

Spread the word!

Thanks!

xo,

Natalie

I Couldn't Resist.

I'm "Light Bulb." Who are you? Find out here.

My 2 Cents: Google's Blogger.

Warning: this is going to be a big load of bla bla bla, so proceed if you will and hopefully you'll find it helpful.



Ok, so it's high time that I did a review of my blog service of choice, Google's Blogger.

First let me give you a splash of history.

I started Pics and Kicks back in June of 2007 . . . 6 days later my little brother Gavin (21yrs) passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. Clearly I took a blogging break. I bounced in and out of the blogosphere until about September/October. Things picked up slowly to where I was posting about 1-3 times a week, then by December/January I'd become pretty near a religious daily blogger. At this point the blog was "just" a blog. Not necessarily photocentric. That picked up around late February early March.

My numbers:

Just to give you an idea, according to my analytics back, in February when I really made the push to blog daily I was getting around 90 unique visitors a day.

FEB 15, 2008: I had 137 visitors.
Fast forward 2 months:
APRIL 15, 2008: I had 1,050 visitors.

The climb has been rapid, steady and pretty much jaw dropping. I know that for some that's not really even mentionable, but I've got ants in my pants I'm so happy with it. . . It's been growing consistently and my average is getting higher and higher with each passing day of steady readership. SO THANK YOU for coming and coming! I truly am SO GRATEFUL! Hopefully I'm adding value to your life. . .that's the goal. :)

NOTE: If you are a professional of any kind trying to
manage a blog for business, you can't NOT have a tracking system.
Check out Google Analytics.
There are others as well, but this is what I use. . .
because, well it's GOOGLE!

Why did I choose Blogger?

Well, honestly because it was the only thing I'd ever heard of. I didn't know a dang thing about blogging. . . no clue. NONE. So I went with Blogger because it was free and because I'd heard of it. Last June I was a tiny little budding photographer with a dash of experience and a load of enthusiasm and no CLUE where I was headed. A blog sounded like a good idea, so I went for it. I am SO THANKFUL that I did. My blog has been SUCH a blessing in my life, both personally and professionally. It literally held my hand through those months after Gavin died when I just didn't know what to do with myself. It's helped me get my name out there in the industry and helped me connect with friends new and old alike. It's part of my daily grind and I love it.

Why I love Blogger?
1. Well. . . it's free. FREE! That's pretty remarkable for a service of this magnitude. Not a penny, not a dime, not a nickel, not a quarter. WOW. I mean yes, there are services you can pay for, or so I've HEARD. I haven't had the need for any of them, so I don't really know. If you're wiser than I in this arena, please by all means comment below and enlighten us.

2. Getting started is a breeze. It's SO USER FRIENDLY. Your grandma could get started with a blog in under 10 min. I'd wager a pretty penny on that.

3. It's GOOGLE. Google. People, if Google hasn't proven their superiority to you by now, you've been living in a cave.

4. It's SO fast and easy to post, comment, moderate and manage posts. . .


What don't I dig about Blogger?

1. Well, I'll be honest. I don't love what it does to my pictures. They do not look "right" when they're uploaded. They look SOOOO much better on my computer before uploading and SOOOOOOOOOO much better in print. But that's because I can compare them side by side. A client will dig what they see on the blog because they haven't seen the original. So this really isn't an issue in most cases. . . it just really gets the perfectionist in me all up in a tizzy. . . but they say there are pills for that. ;)

2. The outside advertising platform. I'm not trying to make money off my readers. You'll notice there are NO ADDS here on Pics and Kicks. . . if I ever do decide to start advertising. . .it will only be for products that I TRULY think you'll benefit from and if that ever happens, I'll probably have to switch to another system, because correct me if I'm wrong, but with Blogger, I don't think you can choose specific companies to advertise on your blog. I think Google just assigns them to you... to me, well that's tacky. If I'm going to advertise something to my readers, it's not going to be random, it's going to be a relevant product that I feel like I can get behind 100%. The end. No debate. PERIOD.

What you should know:

Picks and Kicks will be staying with Blogger for the long haul. Well, at least as far out as I can see at this point. I am working on a custom blog right now that will showcase my portfolio and be more of a client base. BUT don't you worry, Picks and Kicks isn't going anywhere. There will ALWAYS be an arm of Natalie Norton Photography that is purely dedicated to photographers, aspiring and professional alike.

Stay tuned for a follow up post on resources you can use to make your blogger blog really shine. If you have any resources you'd like to share for the post, please email me at natalienorton{at}gmail{dot}com.

The Results Are In.

3 days and a hundred and twenty seven votes later:



New things a comin' from Pics and Kicks. See you soon!

Happy Shooting!

xoxo,

Natalie

Read This.

This is one of the coolest things I've read in the last year or so. I love it. I don't care who you are or what you do, well now that's not true. . . I do care who you are AND what you do . . . very much so in fact. . . but all I'm saying is that NO MATTER who you are or what you do, that sounds better, ahh. . . because I do care a lot about you. . . all of you. Truly. Where was I? Sheesh.

This applies to YOU and YOUR life.
Gol. The End.
Thank you.

xoxo,
Nat

Holy Kanolie.

I know this is not photography related, but my friend Kristen just told me about an awesome website called Deceptively Delicious and EVERY MOM from here to Timbuktu needs to check it out. Anything that can get my kids to eat spinach. . . even if it is baked into a brownie. . . is a rockin' and a rollin' in my book.

Reader Beware.

Today I had an online chat with a friend that went like this (if you have a weak stomach, don't proceed):

me: honking cock roach!

THAT is the ONE THING that I will NEVER love about Hawaii.

SIDE NOTE: Roach was the size of my fist.

6:56 AM jase: i had one fly onto my head while i was on the computer last night

me: EW.

EW.

EW.

If that happened to me, you'd have to commit me to the asylum.

6:57 AM Cardon and I put a cup over ours and screamed our heads off.

It's sitting under said cup in the middle of the kitchen until Richie gets home.

jase: i squish them with my bare foot

i dont like the residue on my nice slippas

SIDE NOTE: "slippas" is a term used to refer to sandals or flip flops here in Hawaii.

6:58 AM me: I just gasped aloud.

That is disgusting.

I'd eat dog poop before I'd do that.

That's a true statement.

So boys and girls. I KNOW this conversation is absolutely disgusting. But I'm curious what do you think? What would you rather do? Just remember, that roach was the size of my clenched FIST! Respond by commenting below.

Anonymous.

Anonymous said... "I miss posts like this. Your blog was more fun before you went commercial on all us."

Anonymous,

I am laughing out loud. Thank you for calling me out! You're right! I have gone all commercial. I'm growing a business and just don't have time right now to straddle that and "popular blogging." That said, I pledge to try harder to find a balance. From now on.

xoxo,
Natalie

Try It.

BE YE WARNED:  this can be highly addictive. . .  thanks a lot Jule.

78 words

Speedtest

I'm Sorry.

Sorry for the lack of fun and interest on the blog as of late. . . I promise. . . there are good things a comin'. Stay tuned!

Happy Anniversary. . . of sorts.

Today marks 6 months since my little brother Gavin died unexpectedly in his sleep of natural causes. He was 21 years old.

I stopped by the Old Laie Cemetary today where he's buried and had a good cry. Tall, flowing grass now covers the heap of sand that quietly awaits a stone that will probably read, "Here Lies Gavin, Son, Unkie, Brother, Friend," but probably SHOULD read "Gavtron, 1986-2007, temporarily visiting Planet Zurg."

If you look closely you'll find pumpkin seeds sprinkled throughout the grass from the pumpkins the boys and I took over for Halloween. Pumpkins with writing dictated by Raleigh that read "Unkie, We miss you! We wanted to put these pumpkins on your grave because we know how much you love trick-or-treating. We love you. Have fun! See you soon."





Sometimes I kneel and lay my cheek on the sand. Today, when I did, I saw a ladybug dancing happily along unaware of the solemnity I feel on that spot, and pulling me back to times of laughter and joy. I followed willingly.

I am always so touched by what I find there, and this visit was no exception. His grave was COVERED in flower leis, candy and gifts from friends who graduated BYUH on Sat. A few weeks ago someone left a championship medal from a soccer tournament. I am incapable of saying how VERY MUCH these remembrances mean to us. THANK YOU for loving and REMEMBERING my brother. Truly, I am so very touched.

"They" say that anniversaries are hard days, whether you consciously recognize the date or not. In fact, my mom reports that often she'll be having an exceptionally hard day and then she'll write a check and realize it's the 17th. Interesting how our hearts wrap around things that our brains refuse to acknowledge. . . attempting to offer protection, however feebly from the pain our hearts feel regardless.

I had a tender "talk" with my brother today and suddenly became poignantly aware of how long it's been since I've heard so much as a giggle or seen even his sly half mouthed grin in response. I began to sink to about a step above despair, when in that very instant, and in true form, the kids set off the car alarm and I was called back to consciousness. Ha! Now I don't mean this in the derogatory, and wish no offense, but THANK GOD for those boys who constantly give me the will and energy to live. . .and bless me with the resolve not only to live, but to LIVE WELL despite. I think without them I would struggle not to selfishly sit on the "me, me me" mule riding 'round and 'round the corral of despond.



Anyway, today in memory of my sweet brother, do something for me. Choose not to merely live but to LIVE WELL. Heaven knows He did.

Who's the boss?

When I was a kid and I was just downright frustrated or angry or sad, my parents would often say "who makes Natalie sad when Natalie's sad?" I would be FURIOUS. "Clearly I am sad because YOU, who call yourselves my PARENTS, and SAY that you LOVE ME, won't buy me that pink Koosh ball!" (For those of you who don't remember koosh love, I'm just plain sad for you). Well, The fury has died down and I'm so thankful to my parents for teaching me ownership and control. Some humans on our planet have a tendency to spend a LOT of time feeling victimized and thus take no ownership for the state of their lives (or the feelings they're harboring). They ALLOW themselves to be ruled from the outside in, rather than from the inside out. They ALLOW someone else to be the boss of them.

Well, the other day I was reading my dear old friend Lindsay's blog and I came across this great quote from her dad (who I also know and love). Anyway, so I'm reading her beautiful blog, minding my own ruddy business and wack!, suddenly I was in tears. It is so wonderful; it just HAD to be shared!

"Sometimes, you gotta tell your feelings how to feel! 'Feelings, I feel gooooood today!'"

I have been in such a funk the last couple of weeks. I know that I'm just moving in and out of the stages of grief and that everything I have been feeling since Gavin bit the dust (trust me he'd think that my total lack of propriety was hilarious) is natural and to be expected. I'd also be the first to tell you NOT to be too hard on yourself for feeling down and out. I know an awful lot about depression (it runs in my family), and I suffered a pretty intense postpartum bout after Raleigh. I also know that sometimes we just let ourselves sink, sink, sink, deeper and deeper feeling ENTITLED to our grief and terrible pain--maybe even feeling defined by it. Then suddenly we're drowning crying helplessly "why me, why me, WHY MEEEEEE?!?!?!?" So the key to that quote is the "SOMETIMES." Sometimes it's good to yell and scream, kick and punch, sometimes you've just gotta cry until the pressure in your eyes seriously threatens to fling from their sockets at any moment, sometimes you've just gotta let go, AND SOMETIMES you've gotta take the bull by the horns, the horse by the reins, the boots by the straps, the pig by the tail (yes, I made that last one up) and just move forward. After all, who's the boss around here anyway?

PS- I thought Tony Danza = hot babe when I was a kid, "not." Ha ha ha! Child of the eighties? Cue hardy laugh.