ABOUT DEB

Hey there! I’m Deborah, the photographer and artist behind this little space on the internet.

I’m thirty-six years old, married to my practical, adventurous, hard-working, studmuffin of a husband Pete. We made four cute babies (at least we think so), and are currently in the throes of parenting. Jesus, be near. It’s a good adventure though, and most days we love our lives.

Pete and I have been married for a whopping almost thirteen years. Fun little tidbit about our wedding: Pete proposed on August 2nd of 2010 and we got married on September 17th…of that same year. I know. Pure insanity. I have zero idea how we managed to convince our parents that this was a good idea, but we did. Crazy as it was, I loved our day, and I wouldn’t change the timing of it all for a second. Sounds corny, but I 100% believe that getting married six and a half weeks after Pete proposed was a God thing. Since then, it’s been an adventure. We’ve traveled a bit. We lived in a modified trailer of sorts for awhile. We bought a fixer upper in the city and spent a few years loving on it while we called it home. When our second little one was on the way, we began to feel cramped in our 1100 square feet of space so we up and moved back to our roots. These days we’re in the process of loving on a 3,100 square foot split level, this time on five acres in the country. I’m not sure where life is taking us, but I’ve learned it’s often better that way. Mostly I try to hang on for the adventure and enjoy the goodness of whatever season I’m living.

When it comes to photos, getting to know people and their stories and making art out of memories and moments – this is MY JAM. I love the story behind the photo as much as the photo itself. People are always going to be what keeps me coming back – and making beautiful art. I love this thing I get to call ‘work.’ Click here to read more about My Approach.

People + relationships + stories are always going to be my why.

Fun facts about Deb

I like a lot of the cliche white girl stuff (chocolate, coffee, traveling, long walks on the beach). I like the idea of being more interesting and less basic, but here we are folks. Ya like what ya like.

Scroll through to read more…

I love running. I’ve run one full marathon, and I’m not even sure how many half-marathons, and it brings me so much joy. Since kids, I’ve found that parenting life will challenge your previously only average workout schedule and make it, well, less than awesome. Fact remains, running makes me happy so with adjusted expectations for my pace, I ran another half marathon in 2018. I finished, and ran the entire thing, other than to stop and hug Pete, Redd, and Ember at Mile 11, which was an accomplishment considering how poorly I had trained for my thirteen mile trot. And yes, Pete did haul both kids out on a cold October morning to come cheer me on. Married up, yes I did.

I love to tinker at making home beautiful. I adore daydreaming through the aesthetic of a space. When it comes down to actually working out the logistics, it’s always much more difficult than I anticipated. But that’s the creative process, now isn’t it? Still, I love the imperfect process of making home inviting and an extension of who we are as a family. When it comes to style, I love a little of this and a little of that. It’s a mashup of styles for sure, but I’ve always been drawn to high contrast black and white lines (modern), and I can’t resist whimsy and texture (think boho), and for the past couple of years I’ve been obsessing over mid-century touches . One of these days, I’ll photograph our home and get you all a little sneak peek into our everyday spaces.

I write all the time. I have a massive stack of actual old-school journals that just keeps growing. I used to stress out about picking out a new journal because I love to LOVE my journals, but now I know it won’t be long before I’ve filled the current book’s pages, so it’s nbd. Journaling helps me process life, slow down, be intentional. It’s a survival technique of sorts. I write to stay sane. It’s therapy, and my history with God, and how I hear Him.

Journaling started happening circa 2009 around the same time that I found out that relationship with Jesus isn’t just a nice churchy thing to say. Who knew? Not this girl. Life with Him has been the best adventure. Cheesy but true.

So core values. Here’s one of mine: I believe you can lead a deeply restful existence and chase your dreams unapologetically at the same time. The daily rhythm of this paradox is found in walking with God.

Seasons matter and knowing what time it is in your life is going to save you spinning your wheels trying to keep up with someone else’s life. Live the good story God’s writing in you and stay in your own lane. This state-of-internal-rest-meets-dream-chasing feels like the dance into which God has invited me. I’m learning to lean into the paradox. I’m learning to trust and try at the same time.

I’m a little addicted to personality tests. SEND HELP, YOU GUYS. I’m pretty sure I’ve done them all. Meyers Briggs – check. I’m an ENFP. Enneagram. Solid Seven. Paaartay all the time please. DISC. I’m a high ‘I’, and I need for there to be at least a smidge of chaos going on to be happy. And for a real throwback, if you’re familiar with the old sanguine, melancholy, choleric, phlegmatic typology, I’m probably mostly sanguine with a tiny bit of melancholy sprinkled in.

Also. Love languages. I will probably ask you about yours at your session because I just can’t help myself. Mine is words of affirmation. If everyone would just TELL everyone else the nice thoughts they’re having about each other wouldn’t the world be a better place?? Obvs. People are under-encouraged, and I like to think it’s my personal mission in life to fix this.

Do you love personality tests too? Click here to take one I made just for you!