bobbi+mike

By now, most of you know Kristen…. and if you don’t, a quick summary. Kristen’s been my personal trainer for two years. She’s been the main support system for my personal healthy train. Without her, I genuinely don’t think I’d be where I am today with the weight loss. Strike that… I know I wouldn’t be…. and no… not just because she works me out… but because she genuinely cares about me.

Remember the Annie photoshoot? Here’s an excerpt from that blog entry

You see, a couple of times a year I like to photograph my girlfriends… all by myself… just because For me, it’s relaxing, ridiculously inspiring, and  REALLY fun. This is going to sound cheesy… but whatever… it’s MY blog and I can do what I want! After Annie’s session, I was on a serious life high for two days.  For some reason, this session was a bit different than other sessions I’ve shot by myself. It’s just SUCH a great feeling to go out with a camera, zero expectations, talk about life, giggle like school girls, get to know each other on a deeper level… oh and take beautiful photos. I LOVE seeing my friends through my lens. As a matter of fact, that night I made a list of all of the women in my life that I’d like to photograph…. so, this session was the start of a personal little project, just for me. Yeah yeah yeah, okay… cheesefest over… back to regularly scheduled “AYKM’s”

So, that night I made it a personal mission… to photograph all of the women in my life. Then… I made a list.  A list that consisted of family and friends. Family who have shaped who I am and my friends who I love.

Kristen was, of course, on that list. She’s become one of my best friends… I share more with her than I do almost anyone.

This time, I went into this project with more of a mission than I did with Annie’s shoot. I asked Kristen to REALLY think. “Someday, when you’re grand kids see these photos of you, at 24 years old, who will they see?” I wanted to take a photo of who Kristen is… not just what she looks like.  Well, that’s always my goal with any photo shoot… but, whatever… you get the idea, right?

Give me five words that describe you. “passionate. determined. strong. goofy. loving.” (more on this at the end)

With that in mind… along with what I already know of Kristen… we went to work.

When we hopped right over that hill… Kristen, Meredith (her best friend) and I saw the skyline and almost in sync, “wowwwwww……” Shooting this series on the hill… I knew, JUST KNEW, that I nailed this project. Here’s the Kristen no one really sees. She’s so outgoing and loud that most think she’s crazy and full of energy all of the time.  I happen to know differently… only because she’s told me Meredith and I were just in awe of Kristen in this moment. We were kinda speechless… which from either of us… is quite rare.  Meredith kept saying, “I’m just so proud of you…”

That one on the right… when she saw it she said with a huge smile, “Why my mom sees that she’ll say ‘that’s SOOO Kristen!”

A very big part of her life…. her friends. Here’s Meredith She drove in from Kentucky to be a part of this.

Kristen, you’re stunning, k?

I would SO love to have a photo like this with my best friend.  Color me jealous.

In that one on the left… HELLOOOOO DICK DAVIS! AKA, dad. To me, you look SO much like him there!

Here’s where Kristen and I are quite alike. Kristen doesn’t know how to do anything if it’s not 100%. She’s intense I say jump and she turns into a spaztastic Tyra Banks America’s Next Top Model. For that reason, I adore her. It’s one of my favorite Kristen traits

I asked Kristen a few questions…

Describe yourself in five words:

I asked a few people in my life to see what others would describe me as… here were their answers

Dick Davis (dad): dedicated, loving, intelligent, magnanimous , playful
Diane Miller (coworker): determined, outgoing, faithful, beautiful, awesome
Meredith Johns (best friend): compassionate, spontaneous, determined, vivacious, beautiful
Lauren Lotz (a sorority friend): caring, enthusiastic, beautiful, smart, amazing
Zach Bobak (a new friend): beautiful, happy, successful, goal-oriented, determined

This showed me is who I truly am in these people’s eyes.  But how do I feel?  Who am I?

passionate. You (Bobbi) say intense.  Everything I do, I put 100% of myself into, whether it is training someone, loving someone, or training for a triathlon.

determined. If I set a goal for myself, I go for it full force.  I continue to push myself outside of my comfort zone to see how far I can go.

strong. I have the love and support of my friends and family to do things I never thought possible.  All of the challenges (both imposed by me, and dished to me), I have learned and become stronger.

goofy. I love asking random questions and just having fun.

loving. People I care about I love with all my heart.  I only want the best for them.  You may describe this as people pleasing.  My family, I would do anything for them.  My friends I would do anything for them.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself in 5 years, not in one location, but a place in my life.  I am newly married, established as an occupational therapist, changing people’s lives by the love and compassion I put into working with them. I may have a kid, I may not.  I continue to compete in triathlons with the same passion and drive I have currently.  I hope to impact my family, friends, and clients by my enthusiastic personality, and desire to be challenged.  I hope this still motivates people in 5 years as it does now.

What’s your favorite color?

um… for the session I only wore pink; pink shirt, pink dress, pink sports bra.  I was shopping for underwear yesterday and I kept picking up pink ones. So, I’d say pink. This was a TOTALLY sarcastic question because yes… all three of her outfits were pink. Made me laugh

Anything you want to say about the session?

The session was so much fun.  I am so glad I was able to do this with the people I love so much and who have helped shape the person I am today.  This just shows how much love I have in my life.  I have grown so much in the past two years, and become the strong, independent woman I am today.

Meredith is my best friend, and I am so blessed to have her in my life.  She sent me an email after (Bobbi) posted that (yoga) photo on Facebook; it instantly brought tears to my eyes.  Here is what she wrote:

“Its funny how much things have changed in just the past two years of being out of college and how much we have grown.  Looking at the picture of you yesterday made me so proud of all that you have accomplished on your own – your job, grad school, the mini, the triathlons, the classes that you’ve taught, etc.”

It just confirms all the tears, and the stress, and the pushing was worth it, and extremely rewarding.

bobbi’s turn…

my five words to describe Kristen?
ambitious, confident, energetic, generous, determined

Kristen, have an amazing time in North Carolina. Go show that Master’s degree who’s boss!

Thank you for touching my life in such an amazing way. I’ll miss you more than you realize. wow, writing that brought on the tears. wow. standby. okay, back. whew.

If I were getting married next month and had to pick my bridesmaids… you’d be one.

Love to you friend.

~bobbi

*I do this exercise often… the “if I were getting married next month who would be in my wedding party?” I do it so that I make sure that I’m focusing my attention on the people who I love the most. Each one of mine is on this list. You should try it.

Love this. BIG time!

+