jan schill photography :blog: bio picture
  • hi! i’m jan…

    welcome...

    i sometimes feel like professional blogs are monotone...all work & no personality! this is not one of those blogs my friends! i love to share my real life craziness...the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the random, the grammatically incorrect, the un-pc, the uncensored...if it's real, i love it! i hope you love it too...

    i am based in durango, colorado...but i still call oklahoma my home! when i'm not out shooting for clients, i'm working in real life as the wife of a brilliant attorney & mom of two perfectly wild little girls...my "littles"! stay tuned to see how i navigate through life trying to keep this balancing act together... hopefully you'll be able to keep up with my antics...

    while you're here, leave a comment or five...the blog & i will be so glad you did!

    thanks for stopping by!
    blessings, js

september. :update:

school & printers & flowers & office hours & weddings…oh, my…

our family…

we had a few weeks of much needed travel & fun!  i’m so excited to be back in durango & enjoying this a-ma-zing weather!!!

i will be traveling a bit in 2011…if you would like for me to visit your area for a session, please contact me to find out how we can set that up…i LOVE to travel!!!

andrew has 2 jeeps!!!  i am learning that there really isn’t anything that my man can’t do…he’s making them quite spiffy in order to sell one & keep the one that he’s really in love with!

i got a new printer this week because mine became possessed & started randomly turning itself off/on…i’m slightly convinced that i shouldn’t have blogged about it & it retaliated…only slightly…

livi is back to school!  i love being at home with the littles, but i a so excited for her to be back to school with her sweet teachers & friends!

we are slowly spiffying up our home…new bedroom furniture…looking for new  living room duds…starting construction on my real in-home office…putting in a real fireplace…dreaming of re-doing the entire kitchen-i’m seeing subway tile & black counter tops in our future!!!  please expect lots of winter blogging involving home improvements…send me your favorite home improvement sites & ideas/suggestions-especially the green ones!!!

technology free thursdays…for my littles…see below…

blossom of durango…jsp…

i’m starting technology-free thursdays as of, well, now!  that means no computer, blogging, email, facebook, twitter, editing, ordering, tv, movies, ipod, blackberry, chatty phone calls…nothing while the littles are awake!  the office is on thursdays, so i doubt andrew & i will miss that!!!  it feels like a good way to engage with my girls & put everything else on hold for at least one set day/week!

i’ve been shooting flowers!  i will have a full post about this soon, but i’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with local floral artist april albert of blossom durango!  it’s been a dream come true to have the chance to work closely with an amazing boutique like blossom & shooting the bouquets that she creates is so fun!!!  april is always coming up with new ways to wow her clients & brides…and i get to watch it all happen!

i have a display at blossom durango!!! …after realizing that meeting with prospective clients at coffee shops & andrews office is not really ideal for me, i was given the opportunity to have my own little corner of the world at blossom & can meet with clients & prospective clients there!!!

i have…drum roll please…office hours!!!  come see me on friday afternoons at blossom!!!  i might be meeting with another client, shooting bouquets, or creating albums…but i’d love to see you!!!  (if you plan to stop by for something specific, please shoot me an email/call before stopping by to make sure i’ll be there…life happens & littles get sick.)

fall sessions…

it’s almost really the fall here in the mountains!  leaves will be changing & families will need session!  i am already booking up for the end of the september-when the leaves are usually changing.  please contact me asap to reserve a spot…especially if you would like holiday cards!

i offer holiday cards & do have a new selection for the 2010 season…my handy graphic design/i can also custom design cards for you-did you see mine last year, it was perfection!!!

email me your address if you want to be on my holiday card list!

weddings…

i am opening up 10 spots for weddings in 2011…those 10 spots are starting to fill up

i have 1 spot left for june 2011…

i am offering an early booking discount for 2011 dates booked prior to december 2010-please set up a consultation for specifics…

i will be at the durango & four corners wedding expo in january…i’m already planning out my booth…my booth is going to kick-ass!!!

starting in january, i’ll be unveiling new wedding pricing…as well as other fun offerings that i’ve got cooked up for 2011 events

YAY!!!!  september is such an exciting month for me…for my business…for our family!!!

tammy. :pt.7:

merry christmas…actually, merry christmas eve-eve-eve…

tammy had her final round of chemotherapy 3 days before christmas.  her mom & sister came in from Kuwait, where they teach school, to celebrate the end of this chapter for tammy, as well as spend the holiday with their family in the states.  it was a very long day for tammy since the infusion suite was very busy with the holidays & tammy needed to do all of her blood work & shots.  it was also in the middle of a huge snow storm…so returning the next day for a shot or blood work was not convenient.  of course, tammy was in good spirits & so excited to be ending this part of her breast cancer treatment…

i’m sorry…how stinkin’ cute is her sister!!!…and her mom is a total doll…
say good-bye to the blood-pressure cuff, thermometer, & various other gadgets that poke & prod you every treatment…
handmade quilts & blankets…a variety of books that reside in the infusion suite…
this part hurts…so. not. fun…
yes, that big-ass needle is about to go into her skin…
last time to be plugged in for “the cocktail”…
finding out that her cancer is not genetic via the brca test…
yes!!!  time to celebrate with some bubbly…sparkling cider to be exact…
cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
abbey survived breast cancer too…she’s been there for tammy through the entire process & came by to offer her congratulations…she’s an amazing, strong, loving woman… she brought presents, advice, laughter, & tears…
a little nap before lunch…
alicia visited as the representative of our mommy group with flowers & encouragement…
no more chemo…
the last post-chemo shot…ever!!!!!
she always said that she wanted to dance out of there…she did!!!…and they blew bubbles on her to bid her farewell…
sweetest. staff. ever…
what cancer cannot do…it cannot…invade the soul, suppress memories, kill friendship, destroy peace, conquer the spirit, shatter hope, cripple love, corrode faith, steal eternal life, silence courage.

tammy made sure of that!!!

yes, she is doing remarkably!   some special time with her family & her surgery are coming soon…

tuesday shoesday. :15:

i like things that sparkle…here’s a little sparkle that might just keep your feet warm as well:

the Ugg classic, tall fancy boot…

re-entry.

we’re back from 2ish weeks of travel…i’m exhausted, but really thankful to be home-even if it means there’s no pool or room service or mimi, pa, & mumsy to help with the littles! re-entry is hard for me! we go somewhere that there are no big responsibilities & have so much fun & then return to real life…and i have to make the bed myself!!! i know, i know…these are some serious princess problems…you’d think i’m complaining about breaking a nail! i am so thankful that we got to take some trips & have fun as a family…and thankful to wake up this morning in my own home with the rain tapping on the aspen leaves outside my bedroom window. now, it’s 10am… i am doing laundry, i already made the bed & fed the littles, & we’re all still in our pj’s…i guess i do love real life after all!

i do miss the broadmoor though…we get to go every other summer for a legal conference that andrew attends & i look forward to it for about 6 months before we arrive!!!

show me the mon-ay.

it was gone…where in the world had it gone?  a check…for someone else…from me!  and it completely vanished into thin air…drat!!!  i give away 25% of my earnings every quarter.  i donate it to a group or cause or person that seems in need & deserving of my hard earned money!  tax-deductible or not, i give away 25%!  and i chose who would be getting the donation, wrote the check, filled out the donation form, copied it for my file, and then it disappeared.  for months i wondered if i had sent it & forgotten.  i watched for it to come out of my account…it didn’t!  drat!!!  then, on monday, i went to make a copy of some paperwork for a client.  i turned on the printer…lifted the lid…and there it was…my donation…from june!!!  still sitting on the printer where i left it…because i’m really smart!  so, sometimes i miss place things, not very often, but sometimes!  maybe even my favorite burberry scarf from college will turn up at some point!  i’m so happy that i found it!  i hate losing things!  i hate it when the printer hides things from me…

tuesday shoesday. :14:

on my feet-just in time for monsoon season:

WELLIES!!!

HUNTER tall gloss boot in violet…

they even have a place for your name…i find that quite darling…

get the sock liners too & stay cozy all winter long!

happy tuesday shoesday!

for more tuesday shoesday magic, go see my tuesday shoesday besties: landlocked bride, gwyneth paige, swatchbook weddings, weddings and pretty things, postcards and pretties, superburbs, slice of lime design

i heart oklahoma.

it happens every time we get back from oklahoma…i’m homesick before we drive away…i heart oklahoma!  going home is always wonderful!  we eat too much, stay up too late, & i go to target a lot!  i get to see my besties & visit my college campus.  i get to see so many people that i love & miss that really make oklahoma feel like home…and, our family is there!

on our most recent trip we visited oklahoma for a wedding…it was wonderful!  seeing a dear friend marry his amazing bride…celebrating with them was an answer to prayer for both of them & they had such a beautiful wedding!  congrats grant & emma!  we love you guys!

when we go home we have our list of places to eat & visit.  chic-fil-a is at the top of my list & the first place we went…mmm, chicken biscuits are so delish!

while we were there the girls spent a ton of quality time with andrews parents, mimi & pa, & we caught up with our besties!  note to grandparents: GET YOUR GRANDCHILDREN A GINORMOUS WATER SLIDE!  they played on this every day for hours & never got sick of it…hl had to be physically removed from it for lunch & nap time! 

i got to meet up with my bestie & mentor hollib for cupcakes & pedicures with her daughter, haven, & olivia-because harper was sleeping & is far too young to sit for a pedi!!!

they watched a movie & chated over milk & cupcakes while holli & i had a chance to catch up…then we all crowded into the photobooth at crimson & whipped cream before heading out for pedicures.  the girls played on the ipod touch/iphones while waiting their turn for a mani/pedi.  unfortunately, i was all too caught up in my own pedi & chatting with holli to get a good shot of livi getting her first nail salon experience-but her nails looked marvelous!  haven was so sweet & asked why they can’t play more together…it made me with they could, she is such a sweetie!  i felt the same way, wanting to play in oklahoma more!!!

see ya’ll real soon!

hope.

i get the feeling every now & then…hopelessness.

so much to do, learn, think about, prepare, clean, wash, fold, hang, cook, read, adjust, protect, preserve…so little time.  i face the fact that i cannot do it all.  i tell myself that super mom was only that…only super mom.  not super anything else.  i am driven by wanting to be super, excellent, perfect, capable of all of it.  it’s too much.  so i get on the edge of giving up…i look down at what a quitter looks like, at the feeling of just giving up on even trying to be excellent…i decide to keep at it.  i’m not the first wife or mother or friend or photographer… this will feel easier, i will learn to balance it all.

then, on a trip to abandoned ruins, i see hope.  i’m reminded that things grow in the dessert.  when things are dry & desolate & it seems like no life can exist…the sky is blue with big cotton-ball clouds, & things grow.  there is always hope…

tuesday shoesday. :13:

on my feet:

christian louboutin, tres decollete ankle-strap in black…the beige are seriously amazing too!

the shoes i’ve been drooling over all summer are finally on my feet…and they were worth the wait!

i have no idea where i will wear them out here in the sticks, but i might just wear them to the grocery store just to make sure that they get some attention before next summer!

happy tuesday shoesday!!!

casey. jonathan. :wedding…just a wink:

you’ll want to come back for the gorgeous couple that i shot saturday…

i’m trying to pump up the hotness with my couples…these two are smokin’!

and thanks to linda for getting this of me…trying not to fall off a bus…onto the couple + focus…clearly i’m very cute & sassy after 6 hours of shooting…

see you soon…