Jack (featuring Nicole + Craig)

Don't let his size fool you! This little guy knows what he likes and what he doesn't. Jack is absolutely in LOVE with his mom and dad, but not quite as in love with having his  picture taken by a strange lady. And, I get that... because I'm totally the same way. Show me a stranger who has a camera aimed at me, and I'll show you how quickly I can run. But, he warmed up to me after a while, was a great sport, and we had a fun and sun-filled day all over Little Forest Hills and East Dallas. As you can see from the photos, Nicole and Craig are a beautiful couple, who were very natural with Jack, which is kind of the idea behind the pictures I take. I would rather capture a moment than create one. So, they really did run through fields, catch butterflies, play the upee-side-down game (as I called it when I was a child) and more. All in all, we had a lovely, hot, fun, summer day, making memories in the sun. Who could ask for more? xoxo

Happy Father's Day....

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads, moms, grandpas, grandmas, stepdads, stepmoms, uncles and aunts who helped raise us.... We love you.

And from Happyfish Photography, thank you to all of the families who allowed me to be a part of their lives for the last year. It has been an honor to photograph each and every one of you.

Father's Day 2011 - Slideshow

xoxo

Fundraising Benefit for Kaati Brehm at The Meridian Room 06/20

Please read all the way to the end to see how YOU have come together, as a community, to forever change this story, and if you can't make it to the event but want to help, please feel free to donate here....

Kaati Brehm is a normal, hardworking 39 year-old local server. With one exception.... In November, Kaati was diagnosed with late stage IV cervical cancer. Since then she has undergone a series of radical surgeries and seven rounds of chemotherapy.

Most of you know Kaati from the nearly fifteen years that she worked at Terilli's on Lower Greenville. Or you might know her from The Wine Therapist and/or Dragonfly where she landed after Terilli's was engulfed in and destroyed by flames early last year.

When someone that we all know and are used to seeing at our favorite bar or restaurant gets sick, a few things go through our minds: "How bad is it? Will they survive? How can I help?" But days turn into weeks and weeks into months and the normal hum of our lives begin to take over once more. Suddenly, those thoughts which were once so constant and at the forefront of our minds are drowned out by a thousand other ideas that entertain, inspire, worry, or scare us on a daily basis. And instead of letting those initial concerns carry us on to do something to help, we let them fall into the background, and we comfort ourselves with ideas like: "Someone else is helping," "Insurance is paying," "There must have been savings," or "She's so strong.... She can handle anything."

Unfortunately, those are things that we tell ourselves instead of the truth. The reality is much harder to bear. For those of us who have watched a love one succumb to cancer or any other incapacitating disease, we know that real life is often not as bright and shiny as the affirmations that help us to move on and feel okay when the world seems like a dark and scary place.

Because the truth, as much as I would like to tell you all differently, is that no one else is helping. Insurance doesn't cover rent or food or even half of the medical costs. The savings were gone months ago. And even the strongest will sometimes fall without a support system in place or a little help from their friends.

The truth is that Kaati is sick. Kaati is sicker than any of us hope to become throughout our entire lives, and she doesn't have enough money to pay her rent, bills or feed herself. Her cancer is too far advanced for her to be able to work full-time and be treated simultaneously. And she has no options left.

That, my dearest friends & Facebook acquaintances, is the truth of what has happened to Kaati Brehm....

ONLY NOW, because of all of you, the story has changed. Just like that, we have helped Kaati pay for rent, bills, and chemotherapy for the last month. Plus, the outpouring of support that you have shown has helped us to gain attention from multiple news sources and private benefactors. We knew that some of you would give money and share kind words, but your endless amounts of love and generosity have been breathtaking at times. We are so proud to be members of the Dallas service industry, a group of people that defines the word family.

Please come out to support Kaati once more on June 20th at The Meridian Room. For a $10 cover, there will be drink specials, door prizes, a silent auction, and information on how to join The Servers Trust (if you have been a full-time server within the last year and come to the benefit, we will automatically sign you up!). You have already done so much, so while Monday night is about Kaati, it is also about each and every one of you -- what you have given, how you have loved, and what amazing people you have all grown up to be. We are proud to know you and call each of you a friend.

And, of course, on Monday night, we are celebrating Kaati... for all that she is and still can be... for how much of herself she has sacrificed for this community of servers... for her quirks and oddities and evil laughter.... We are celebrating Kaati, and we are showing her the love that she needs to keep fighting the good fight. Please come and show your support! Love, thanks, and good health to you all....

from the Sisters Troute
xoxo

For more information, please contact Marie Troute @ marie.troute@gmail.com/469.733.7789 or contact Julia Troute on Facebook.

The Servers Trust

Hello, all of my little fishies.... Here is some information about the nonprofit organization that I am starting called The Servers Trust. Please read this blurb, and let me know what you think:

Since last year, I have been posting information about fundraisers for servers. And that is because servers get sick -- just like we all do. But, unlike many, most servers do not have access to healthcare.

When a server is sick... when we can't or aren't allowed to work, due to illness or injury... there are no paid days off, no personal time, no help with medical bills. If you are a server, were a server, are married to a server, or your child is a server, then you know the absolute fear we feel when faced with the thought that we might need to see a doctor. Because what if something really is wrong? What then? For many of us, the option to see a doctor and getting the financial help that we need when we're sick can and WILL make the difference between getting better and getting worse, improving or deteriorating, living and dying....

What I am proposing with The Servers Trust is to create a nonprofit organization (that I will start and run with help from my sister, friends, and family) which will have the sole purpose of raising and dispersing money (year-round) to servers who are injured, laid off, or genuinely ill for at least three weeks. Basically... what I am promising is this... if you are hurt or sick or worse, then I will be there for you and fight to make sure that you have what you need when you actually need it. I will be relentless and passionate, and I will blow up Facebook on behalf of you and your family the way you have probably seen me do for others. I'm not saying that we can do everything, help everyone, or save every sick server, but I am promising to try.

The Servers Trust is a concept born out of necessity. We keep having fundraisers when something bad happens to one of us (and I say this with love because I am one of the people throwing the fundraisers). So, yes, we keep raising money, which is wonderful, but, in many cases, we're starting too late. We need to be more aggressive. We need to get out in front of this before it's too late for any more of us... before it's too late for even ONE more of us.

To do all of this, we need to get incorporated and file for nonprofit status, which will take a little time and money to do correctly. But, once that is taken care of, I can start applying for grants, almost daily, and I can raise money for the Dallas service industry, a group of people who I couldn't love more if I tried. I promise that I can raise money.... I can't stop cancer or fires or car accidents, but I can raise money, and I will do that for you. I will do that for all of you, if you ever need it.

As a nonprofit organization, I can actively pursue money and funding that I cannot pursue as a single person, and I will have the power to fight for each of you, should you ever be on the receiving end of bad news.

What I need from you, besides showing up for Kaati's benefit on June 20th at The Meridian Room, is that you support me so that I may continue to support all of you. I promise to do whatever I can, whenever I can, and you in turn, just have to show up. Come to an industry night when it benefits The Trust. If you have a little extra, give a little extra, but do so with the knowledge that if and when, God forbid, you should need it, someone will be putting in a little extra for you, too.

We have all needed this help at one time or another, so chances are we will all need it again. The time is now. And, I truly believe that this is where we begin. Love and good health to you all -- let's get started. xo

Alison + Chris = Twue Wove

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethaw today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dream....

Cha-cha-cha-cha-changes....

Hi there, all you tiny happyfish sock puppets....

You may have noticed that, besides the crazy facelift that yours truly performed on this blog (sans medical training -- yikes!), there have been some other changes, too -- some that are NOT purely aesthetic.

• There is an appointment scheduling section on the right-hand side of the screen that will hopefully streamline the appointment process and save us all a little phone/email tag. I know that the layout for that tab isn't the most beautiful thing ever and that the services aren't listed in any particular order, but I am told by the developer of this "widget" that those issues are in the process of being resolved, so bear with me, please!
• I'm vaguely obsessed with trying to use the word "widget" in normal conversations....
• There is new way to join in on the happyfish fun by just entering your email (easy!), proving that you're a human (hmmm....), and getting a verification email (booo-oooooring). You can still join through Google Contacts, but if you have a different type of email account and/or hate filling out that profile thing (me, too!) then this is the update for you.
• There is a new donation bar for those of you that don't need portraits right this second but want to keep the blog (and the little fish behind it) alive and thriving.
• There is a saucy new black and white profile picture of me -- Ooooh-la-la!

Ummm.... Let's see, what else?

• There are links to some of MY favorite blogs, like House 8810 and The Perfect Last Bite -- check them out! They are my friends, and they are greatness.... 

Just keep swimming, little fishies! Until we meet again....

The Field Family Holiday Shoot

Whenever I photograph families, I try to imagine them before that day, that month, that year.... I try to think of the husband and wife as two little kids who only dreamed that they might grow up and fall in love, much less become parents to their own children someday. Sometimes I can think of them that way.... I can see them as who they were and not who they became. And I think it is that moment, right then, when I get the best pictures. I think that there are moments, in photographing families, when parents stop feeling like they were always parents, with a million things to do and places to be. They forget about all of life's responsibilities and troubles and they have this moment where they realize that they actually did it. They grew up. It really happened. Sometimes, I think that, if you watch carefully, you can pinpoint the exact second when a person realizes that they got everything that they ever wanted. And that moment is beautiful, if you can see it. With that said, on rare occasions, I get to photograph someone that I don't have to imagine as a child because I can still remember it so vividly.

Whitney is one of those rare instances. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend that you get to see and know through all of life's big moments.... from school projects and dances, to first loves and summer jobs, to engagements and weddings... and even births. I don't have to wonder about anything with Whitney. When I look at her, I cannot see her in any other way than everything that she ever was and still is all rolled up into one.

And, even if I hadn't known Whitney for going on two decades, and Taylor since before he said "I do...." Even if I hadn't been lucky enough to watch their love grow and bloom into a family of four and wasn't blessed in calling them my friends.... Even then, I would think that they are possibly the nicest people that I have ever met. And again and again, I believe that I could easily catch that beautiful moment of realization in them. Because the Fields seem to notice and acknowledge many times throughout a day how lucky they have been and continue to be... even when things don't go perfectly... even in the moments that take them off guard.

Taylor is the epitome of a father and husband. He is smart, strong, protective and brave. Whitney is the most natural wife and mother I have ever seen, handling any and every moment with humor and grace. Together, they are an amazing couple and parenting team. Will is sweet, quirky, bright, well-behaved and, basically, the apple of my eye. The Fields have continuously and patiently agreed to be my photographic guinea pigs, happy to let me get up in their respective grills with every new wacky idea I come up with and, despite the fact that they have possibly missed their true calling as some sort of group supermodel, they are genuinely cool, fun, and down-to-earth.

Since I know that I will be photographing their newest edition, Benjamin, in a few days or weeks, I thought that I should probably go ahead and put these pictures up from a pumpkin-filled last October. Let's take a look back at when Benjie was still in the belly, shall we? I love you, Mr. & Mrs. Field (and your little boys, too!!!).... xoxo