Mercy Hospital

When I first started taking pictures, one of my favorite places was the old Mercy Hospital in downtown Liberty. Old red brick, stairs, and unique doors. A couple of times I would inch my way into the abandoned building. However, I was always too scared to tour the entire facility.

Once the City of Liberty and Liberty County found out that people were trespassing in the unsafe structure, they boarded up the windows and doors with ugly plywood. Since this (and several other photographers discovered my place) I stopped taking pictures at this wonderful location.

A little fact: Mercy Hospital is where my dad was born.

A little "second" fact: I wanted to transform the building into loft apartments. However, the building had asbestos and would have cost a small fortune to save.

Information from KSHN:
Mercy Falling: It was around 3 p.m. yesterday when the first portions of the old Mercy Hospital came tumbling down. With many local’s in the Methodist Church parking lot keeping watch, a large piece of excavation equipment began pulling the original part of the hospital in on itself, with plans to have it and the larger red brick portion on the ground by the end of this week. An unknown water main was discovered when the excavation unit hit it, sending a geyser into the air as high as the elevator tower on the hospital. City of Liberty water department had already capped what they thought was the water line and pulled the meter, but over 60 some odd years, apparently another water line had been forgotten.

Color!

As I was searching for the perfect anniversary card and catching up with a friend, this card caught my attention. I just loved the colors! After an hour of chatting, I grabbed the card and thought to myself, this is my inspiration for my new studio.

Pink, Robin's Egg blue, green (lime green) will be my main three colors.

My mind is now going in one thousand different directions.
I will need a wall color. Should it be the Robin's Egg blue or pink? I think the Robin's Egg blue.
The perfect settee. Urban Outfitters or Target in lime green.
Rug. I am thinking a white shag rug.
Curtains. Pink velvet. Oh la la!

Then a coffee table(s), lettering for wall, pillows for seating, frames, lighting.

Add to my List...Waxing Poetic

Adding to my wish list.

Most of the time I do my own "gift from Josh" Christmas shopping. Maybe it is because I know myself better than anyone, or was it the electric razor that one Christmas or could it be that he gave me the same ring twice?

Anyways, last year at Christmas time I called my friend Amy that lives in Kingwood and asked her where I could find a unique & different gift. She said Ace Hardware. What!?! Sure enough their Ace Hardware rocks!

I fell in love with Waxing Poetic. I purchased five charms and a braclet, wrapped and put under the tree! Merry Christmas to me.

My Wish List

Urban Outfitters is one of my favorite stores! Unique, cute, funky items!

I thought I would start my birthday, Christmas and Just Because list early.

I will take this in purple (or)

RED! or

Blue (or)

My favorite--GREEN!

(not a must have--but cute)

I have been eyeing this sweet little camera for a couple of months.

The question is...would I really use it?

Super Cute! (I do not know why I am so in love with green these days!)

Super cute little table.

I like this in white!

Only $300...and would look great--somewhere!

Happy Anniversary

Josh, I love you. Happy eight years! (Where is my bronze anniversary gift? Skip bronze, I want diamonds!)

*Thank you for holding my hand through all of life's challenging trials and tribulations.
*Thank you for being my cheerleader when life gets me down.
*Thank you for understanding my crazy ways {like when I bring home ANOTHER stray animal}
*Thank you for sharing my passions.

I look forward to spending many more wonderful years by your side. I love you now and always.

Jennifer Land, Bridal Portraits

Jennifer let me know in the very beginning that she wanted something "different" for her bridal portraits. However, mom wanted some more traditional type bridal portraits.

Why not do both? Why of course! We did not more "traditional/formal" first and then I took mom and Jennifer to a more grunge/urban area for some fun shots. Jennifer was up for anything.

Jennifer, you were a blast to work with! I had so much fun! AND of course you are a stunning bride! You are absolutely beautiful!

Out of the Office.

I will be out of the office for summer break/vacation July 31th-August 8th.

I will be checking emails, voice mails and Facebook messages (from time to time), however I will get back to any bookings, questions, orders, or other inquiries after I return.

website: http://www.amandakey.com
email: amanda@amandakey.com
phone: 936.334.4403

Fonden

These two little sisters had their hands full trying to pose, love and kiss all over their new baby brother. What cuties!

Lori, you are an amazing mom. You are so calm, easy-going and laid back. I love it! {and you have a beautiful family}

{this may be one of my favorite photos of all time! I love it!}


{what a beautiful baby!}

Finding Myself

Home alone and quiet fills the room. Every once in a while a visit from Henry, a phone call or a visit interrupts the process. When days are filled with rush and hurriedness you forget who you are, where you are going and where you want to go. You quickly forget the accomplishments you want to achieve.

These precious quiet days are filled with thought. Thoughts of what got lost along the way, feelings that have yet to be felt, and memories waiting to be captured.

I am my own worst critic. I am hard on myself, often criticizing and second guessing every move I make. Time to make choices that will make a difference. Like it or not, choices are made that leave others unhappy and others happier.

Working as a full-time teacher and pushing myself to become the photographer that I want to be, leaves little time for self-invoking thought. However, summer offers the opportunity to be "re-born."

Tears and fears of being scared, hurt, or sadness on the surface make me want to quit. To surrender to the "easy life." The life of one job, security and ordinary. However, that thought only lingers a short while. The tears and fears then push me to work harder, to achieve more, to be the photographer/the teacher that others only dream about.

I am ready to push the boundaries. I am ready to accomplish the life I dream about. This journey I will begin will have boundaries and policies. Boundaries and policies that I too will have to follow. I am a artist, a business owner, a teacher, but I am also a wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, and friend to others. I have to find the balance to achieve but also to love.

Life is short. If you are lucky enough to live to 80, you get 29,200 mornings to awake to. Are you living the life you dream about or do you succumb to the pressures of what others want and expect out of you?


*Do you trade your knowledge, experience, and expertise for what others expect and want from you?

Trinity

A couple of my favorite from my session this evening.

Learning, Growing...

I challenge myself to try new things, incorporate new locations, new poses, new props, etc. My friend, Robin, allowed me to borrow her beautiful little girl to practice a couple of new techniques. Unfortunately it was cloudy out, and that put a damper on my plans. However, I never leave a photo session not feeling like I captured the beauty of the session.

Thank you Robin & Kylee!