Faux "Crisis" Averted
Thank you ALL so much for your advice! Each one of you made me feel better and/or justified in my little quandry. Everything has fallen into place for a peaceful resolution. (Don't you just LOVE when God does that?! I love that He settles even these little things. :-))
I loved what everyone said about my candid shots being so genuine, and my only issues in not using them were:
#1 - my engraved ornament frame is vertical
#2 - can't see Sissy's face
#3 - can't see their *purposely* matching outfits or her hair bow I made specifically to match (I realize only important to me, but still)
Issues solved:
#1 - I never keep receipts. Ever. But for some reason, (thank you, God) I still have the receipt for the engraved ornament frames for this year. (I buy 3: us & both sets of grandparents.) I just happened to see other square-shaped 2009 ornament frames I liked the other day, but I passed them up, since I already had my fancy traditional ones. These others fit the candid spirit of this Santa pic better, anyway, on top of being a better shape to crop & fit; so I'm exchanging & they should be great!
#2 - oh, well; y'all are right that you can still see the love in the shot...and it's just this year ;-)
#3 - I'll dress them in these exact same outfits for their Montessori Christmas music program Friday night and take tons of pics then, so I'll still have the look documented. :-P
I went ahead and designed our Christmas card w/o a Santa lap pic last night, and I'm totally happy with it, so that's fine, too.
In thinking about all this, I've realized why it was so important to me. It's not about Santa. (We don't even make that big of a deal about him; I talk about how the real St. Nicholas loved God so much he wanted everyone to remember Jesus' birthday, and that's why "he" still gives everyone presents. :-P) For me, it's about tradition. I'm BIG on traditions. I *LOVE* the idea of looking back over the years in relatively the same position and seeing how they've grown. Esp. since we move around so much, we don't have the stability of taking a pic on the same staircase or by the same front door year after year, (or even usually more than 2 years.) I am psycho about my pics, and I think it's b/c they give me the stability I don't get from living in a constant home area.
But I'm also letting my quest for quasi-perfection go this time. (Just this time. ;-)) I feel like there's a lesson here. The actual event was so magical for them; I absolutely do not want to invaildate it by going somewhere else. I also kind of feel like this was a call to prioritize the experience for once over the photo; maybe if I were to go & try anywhere else, it would be a total nightmare. One or both would probably pitch a fit about something and ruin the whole thing. I'll stick with this one year being a bit different in exchange for the perfect Santa lap experience. :-)
I loved what everyone said about my candid shots being so genuine, and my only issues in not using them were:
#1 - my engraved ornament frame is vertical
#2 - can't see Sissy's face
#3 - can't see their *purposely* matching outfits or her hair bow I made specifically to match (I realize only important to me, but still)
Issues solved:
#1 - I never keep receipts. Ever. But for some reason, (thank you, God) I still have the receipt for the engraved ornament frames for this year. (I buy 3: us & both sets of grandparents.) I just happened to see other square-shaped 2009 ornament frames I liked the other day, but I passed them up, since I already had my fancy traditional ones. These others fit the candid spirit of this Santa pic better, anyway, on top of being a better shape to crop & fit; so I'm exchanging & they should be great!
#2 - oh, well; y'all are right that you can still see the love in the shot...and it's just this year ;-)
#3 - I'll dress them in these exact same outfits for their Montessori Christmas music program Friday night and take tons of pics then, so I'll still have the look documented. :-P
I went ahead and designed our Christmas card w/o a Santa lap pic last night, and I'm totally happy with it, so that's fine, too.
In thinking about all this, I've realized why it was so important to me. It's not about Santa. (We don't even make that big of a deal about him; I talk about how the real St. Nicholas loved God so much he wanted everyone to remember Jesus' birthday, and that's why "he" still gives everyone presents. :-P) For me, it's about tradition. I'm BIG on traditions. I *LOVE* the idea of looking back over the years in relatively the same position and seeing how they've grown. Esp. since we move around so much, we don't have the stability of taking a pic on the same staircase or by the same front door year after year, (or even usually more than 2 years.) I am psycho about my pics, and I think it's b/c they give me the stability I don't get from living in a constant home area.
But I'm also letting my quest for quasi-perfection go this time. (Just this time. ;-)) I feel like there's a lesson here. The actual event was so magical for them; I absolutely do not want to invaildate it by going somewhere else. I also kind of feel like this was a call to prioritize the experience for once over the photo; maybe if I were to go & try anywhere else, it would be a total nightmare. One or both would probably pitch a fit about something and ruin the whole thing. I'll stick with this one year being a bit different in exchange for the perfect Santa lap experience. :-)
i'm proud of you - you made a great situation out of a not-so-great one! God is good and He will always open a window when the door is closed. thank you for sharing how the crisis was resolved. its so great to hear how God works - in every detail of life. He does care about the details! He blessed me - we don't have the $$ to see the local professional symphony's Christmas show and I had expressed to clay how much i wanted to go. Well, we were offered comp tickets just 2 days before the concert, so we were able to go. is that God or what? it was a great concert and i had a wonderful time! God is good.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Love!!! You are so right: hearing examples of how He works in all sorts of little things is so reaffirming, isn't it? :-) God is SO good!!!
ReplyDelete