"Ah, Yeah! It's Good. I Will Do It!"

Hi to all my lovely co-Moms out there. I'd like to hear about what you do to go about being so good at what you do to succeed as Mommas. You know, that kind of gut-level success in your attainment of your dreams and wishes for each of your children? I'm still searching.

As Moms, don't we all want what is best for them? And at some level of achievement, does it preempt you to share that passion with other Moms about what success is like? And desire that good for us, mothers, as well?

You see, I'm a stay-at-home Mom. To those who don't fully know me, I'm a mom of seven. I feel that with them, I'm forever learning. As I think about it, learning always follows doing. But it is never like this, unless I condition my mind on how to be and how to do it.

I'm pretty much a hands-on Mom at most jobs at home. What amazes me is that, my work as mommy is never done. As my children grow as individuals, I'm growing too. I'm gaining so much through my experiences with my co-human beings at home-- together.

I believe, success in being a parent, is to be able to have set goals. Then, have your goals realized and be able to say :

• "I'd like to do it."
• "I can do it."
• "Ah yeah, it's good. I will do it!" 

As a Mom, tell me if your mind nudges you to think:

1. That you want to earn money--at home. 
2. Or if you're working outside of your home, that you want to stay home and earn at the same time.

 If you have, then, it's a confirmation that I'm pretty normal. I thank God for all the Moms out there!

Would you like to share your success story? Please do.  So, here's a little bit of my share of the story...

"The mind of man/woman plans his way. But the LORD directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

To be happy. And to have happy children is success to me. Yey... almost! 

11 Reasons Why a Date With a Photographer is Awesome

I've just broken a principle. I've always reserved "awesome" to things heavenly. Isaac-John, 12, thought of "Awesome" for the title. Well, why not?

Firstly, our time away was absolutely bliss. "Fun," in contemporary tongue. Memorably worth it, to whom who just had the date. Hence, a date with my brilliant photographer-husband.

As I wrote down "11 Reasons..." I was at breakfast with Reuel at the Intercon Hotel, Melbourne. While my brain was fresh and was on top of things, I set to work with writing. And be there for my husband while he was tinkering at his Olympus OM3. Good time. It was Saturday. So, I steered clear of my iPad and internet. And confined myself to my little purple journal and pen. Real page-turning at the tip of my fingers.

Why I'm writing and sharing 11 reasons is to keep the memory alive. We only step into our ages once. So, here they go.

1. Study your photographer-husband in advance.  It doesn't matter whether he's been a photographer for 25 years, or only for 2.5 days over weekend. It still is a fascination to study him. His freerer expression with his natural gift enhances his eye for the aesthetics. Including you—as one of his subjects. Even in your most insecure "panoramic" figure, he will try to frame the “eye’ of his love into his camera lens. He loves you just the same.

2. Don't rely on Photoshop editors. You will never make your photographer-husband edit your 'pre-loved' face. He loves you too much just the way you are. Doctoring a few or several lines and golden-bags under your eyes will never happen. He will never take bribes either. Just keep buying him the latest, updated camera apparatus. He'll be forever grateful for “experimenting” with your face just the way it is. Keep that flame burning in your heart for your photographer.

3. Dig out your most colourful, out-of-the-box outfit. Mine are pretty plain and simple. So, on our date, I don't wear them. I dig out my orange, fushia, golden-beaded, silver blouses—anything to reflect available light. Your night-dress doesn’t  necessarily have to be low-cleavage if you're uncomfortable. Your smiling face, intelligent conversation with him will do just fine. It will bring shine to your overall—you.

4. Make sure you lavish your plate with greens. Another plate of  fruit of all sorts, even if you don't really eat them, is excellent. By this time, being married to a photographer, you’ve earned a connoisseur title in fine arts to your husband’s heart.

5. Never. I repeat, never eat your own meal without asking him if he’d like to take a photo of it first.

6. Bring your iPad, Google Reader, or Kindle Reader. Keep it handy in your bag. If you don’t have these, get one for your birthday or anniversary. Make sure you're loaded with books. City night-life keeps him very busy and occupied with things to see and capture.

7. If he’s seen beauty in his cranberry juice halfway through, suggest your full glass how it may look like in the picture, somehow. He’s brilliant in what he does as a photographer, remember? You never know, it can be a story-idea for you too.

8. See things through his eye. While you’re trying to observe people around (not stare), new ideas from your jar of stories may add to his camera lenses with your words.

9. While carrying on a deep meaningful conversation with him, be prepared.  Suddenly, a huge lens is staring at you. While your flow of thoughts gets disrupted, don’t blow up, just smile. Trust him, he’s a brilliant photographer.

10. Don’t pay attention to your Fb notification beeps.  You can do it!  Comments on your latest blog must wait. Your husband’s opinions take priority.

11. Be more interesting than your photographer-husband’s FB photo upload conversations. That, he would not care much about FB notifications while you’re dating.

So, hope these reasons will keep us going for life.

Awesome!

~Mrs. Reuel Santos