Denver Senior Photographer: Sarah Reichen, Peak to Peak Charter School, Class of 2016

Today's featured senior is such a special girl and I just love her.  Sarah Reichen is a 2016 senior at Peak to Peak Charter School.  On top of being crazy beautiful, she's got the most incredible personality - the perfect combination of sweet, sass and fun.  She's a fashionista with incredible style and I can't even begin to imagine all the incredible things this girl will accomplish and experience in her lifetime.  Sarah booked the Cover Girl session, so I hope you enjoy both her outdoor and her studio photos!!!  Sarah, you are the BEST!  I am sooooo thrilled and honored you chose me to be your senior photographer.  Hugs!!

Describe yourself in a tweet (140 characters or less):  Compassionate fashionista always throwing in a witty comment for some giggles.  Sparkles are essential for everyone to have in their life and I love sharing my rays of sunshine on others.

What is your definition of beauty?:  Beauty is someone who LOVES themselves.   Confidence is everything.  If your forte in life is winged eye liner, then girl wear that winged eye liner loud and proud because who cares how much or how little makeup you wear? Do what makes you happy and confident.

What song would give us the greatest insight into you?:  I feel like I blow through songs all the time and am constantly changing my 'favorite' song, but the song "Beautiful" by Mariah Carey will forever hold a special place in my heart because Intend for it to be my first dance song at my wedding.

What's your best joke/pun?:  What kind of shoes do ninjas wear?  Sneakers.

As a child, what was the first thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?:  As a child I always wanted to be a real princess when I grew up and own lots of gorgeous gowns and rhinestones. (This still stands today.)

What were your first words? Do they say anything about the person you are today?:  My first word was "mom".  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree; meaning my mom and I are almost too identical so it's typical I said "mom" first.

Who is your favorite Disney princess?  Why?:  My favorite Disney princess is Cinderella.  Always has been, always will be.  when I was younger I felt I could relate to her (physically) because we both have blonde hair and I loved her laugh.  I love love love princesses.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? With who? Doing what?:  If I could be anywhere int he world right now it would be back at Royal Family Kids Camp with this little angel I met over summer at a camp I volunteered at as a counselor for foster kids.  She truly changed my life.  We would be in the art room painting lanterns because that's where we bonded the most.

If you went to Hogwarts, what house would you be put in? Why?:  I've never been too into the Harry Potter books, however I would be in one of the castles because that's where princesses belong. :)

Finish this sentence: I may be stranded on a deserted island, but at least I have my...

jar of sparkles.

What's the greatest board game ever invented?:  Candy Land

Share one last thing with us...

Some girls are just born with glitter in their veins... I am one of them.

Okay seriously, can you believe those winter photos above??? I grabbed the coat and hat on our way out the door as a last minute thought and wow am I glad I did!

Like I mentioned at the beginning, Sarah booked the Cover Girl session, so she got a studio shoot in addition to the outdoor shoot, full access to the Stacey Kyler Seniors Closet, and she will also get an entire magazine full of photos of her, articles about her, etc.  I CANNOT wait to see her magazine in print!  Enjoy her super fun studio shots!

Model: Sarah Reichen

Photographer:  Stacey Kyler  www.staceykyler.com

MUA:  Tasha Green

Hair & Assistant:  Jennifer Dean

Comments!!  To leave a comment, click on the pencil below.  If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a google account, select Anonymous, leave your comment, and then PLEASE be sure to sign your name so our team knows who left the kind words!  Thank you!

Denver Senior Photographer: Emily Serafini, Denver East High School, Class of 2016

Today's featured senior is Emily Serafini, a 2016 senior at East High School!  I love this girl.  I love her independence, her confidence in who she is, and I especially love her sarcastic sense of humor!  She's so easy going and just a joy to be around.  Emily, THANK YOU for choosing me to be your senior photographer.  I had the best time working with you and am soooooo glad I had the honor of getting to know you!  

Describe yourself in a tweet (140 characters or less): I have a very sarcastic humor.  I'm very passionate about traveling, seeing new sights and having really good work ethic.  I can't wait to see what's in store for my future!!

What is your definition of beauty?: The art of beauty is being confident in how you look and not caring what others think of you.  As long as you believe you are beautiful, you truly are beautiful.

What song would give us the greatest insight into you?:

Toes - Zac Brown Band

Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

I also like rap, so here's to Gagsta's Paradise - Coolio

What is your best joke/pun?:  What does a noisy pepper do?  Get's JALAPEÑO business.

What's the greatest board game ever invented?: LIFE

As a child, what was the first thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?: I wanted to be a veterinarian.

What were your first words? Do they say anything about the person you are today?:  My first word was Dad.  I always cherish the time I spend with him!

Who is your favorite Disney princess? Why?: I love Mulan obviously because she is a strong, independent young woman who will go against society's rules and fight for her family's honor.  However, she is is tied with Aurora because I love her voice and the music in Sleeping Beauty.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?  With who?  Doing what?:  I would be at a deserted beach in Mexico with Me, Myself, and I.  Just sitting on the beach with my toes in the warm sand, enjoying the water and soaking up the sun.

Finish this sentence: I may be stuck on a deserted island, but at least I have my...

music!

Share one last thing with us...

I love my lacrosse team and we are definitely going to state this year!  Long live the brotherhood!

Model: Emily Serafini

Photographer:  Stacey Kyler  www.staceykyler.com

MUA:  Tasha Green

Hair & Assistant:  Jennifer Dean

Comments!!  To leave a comment, click on the pencil below.  If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a google account, select Anonymous, leave your comment, and then PLEASE be sure to sign your name so our team knows who left the kind words!  Thank you!

Denver Senior Photographer: Samantha Kissel, Evergreen High School, Class of 2016

Today's featured senior is Samantha Kisiel, a 2016 senior at Evergreen High School!  This girl is smart, athletic AND beautiful...the whole package!  We had such a fantastic time at her session and I'm sooooo glad I had the opportunity to meet this incredible young lady.  Samantha, thank you for choosing me to be your senior photographer.  I wish you an amazing rest of your senior year and all the exciting stuff that comes after that! :)

Describe yourself in a tweet (140 characters or less): I am a fun, happy-go-lucky person.  My life revolves around basketball, but in my free time I love to live and laugh with family and friends.

What is your definition of beauty?: My definition of beauty is when someone is comfortable with themselves under any circumstance.  I think self confidence is the most beautiful beauty anybody can have.

What song would give us the greatest insight into you?:  American Kids by Kenny Chesney.

As a child, what was the first thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?:  A teacher!

What were your first words? Do they say anything about the person you are today?:  Mom and Dad.  Of course they do, I love them more than anything in the whole wide world!

Who is your favorite Disney princess?  Why?:  Cinderella because she makes the best of her situation and shows up the losers in her life.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? With who? Doing what?: I would be in Florida with my family and boating.

Finish this sentence: I may be stuck on a deserted island, but at least I have my...

bed.

Share one last thing with us...

I play basketball, I plan to play in college and after that I'll see what life throws my way.

Model: Samantha Kisiel

Photographer:  Stacey Kyler  www.staceykyler.com

MUA:  Tasha Green

Hair & Assistant:  Jennifer Dean

Comments!!  To leave a comment, click on the pencil below.  If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a google account, select Anonymous, leave your comment, and then PLEASE be sure to sign your name so our team knows who left the kind words!  Thank you!

Denver Senior Photographer: Alex Fryer, Evergreen High School, Class of 2016

Today's featured senior is Ms. Alex Fryer, a 2016 senior from Evergreen High School.  Alex was just as much fun to photograph as she looks in her pictures.  She's absolutely adorable with the perfect amount of spunk as well. :)  I also loved how colorful her wardrobe choices were...so fun!  Alex, thank you SO much for choosing me to be your senior photographer.  We had such a wonderful time working with you and wish you all the best!!

Model: Alex Fryer

Photographer:  Stacey Kyler  www.staceykyler.com

MUA:  Tasha Green

Hair:  Jennifer Dean

Assistant:  Anya Dushinski

Comments!!  To leave a comment, click on the pencil below.  If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a google account, select Anonymous, leave your comment, and then PLEASE be sure to sign your name so our team knows who left the kind words!  Thank you!

10 Life Lessons From A (Now) 40-Year Old

I was sitting on the couch this morning having my usual cup of coffee and laughing at myself. Last night I went to dinner with my brother and his family. I was sitting in a chair holding my 3-year old nephew and somehow managed to throw my hip out. It still hurts this morning. I was laughing, thinking how glorious it is to be 40. (I just celebrated my 40th birthday last week.) And then, out of nowhere, I just started writing. I'm not a writer, so there are probably a million grammatical errors. And honestly, I don't care. It's not about that. I just wanted to write some life lessons that I've learned over the last 40 years that maybe (hopefully) can be helpful to you. Please understand one thing...these are just life lessons from my very limited perspective. I'm not a mother, so you won't find anything about parenting in here. I've never had a psychological disorder, so you won't find anything in here about dealing with that. Because I don't know. But I have been in crazy credit card debt. I have been hurt. I have made bad decisions that I regret. I have been selfish, I have judged others, and I have had moments when I didn't trust God. I've lived some life. Most of my readers here on the blog are high school girls, so to you I say, I hope you pull something away from this that will change your life for the better. 

1. Do NOT settle. Be the kind of woman who deserves a knight in shining armor and then wait for him. This literally will change the rest of your life. Being married to your best friend - someone you can disagree with, but still respect each other's opinions and have a really good conversation with, someone who makes every moment more fun just by being with him, someone who loves you just as you are and you never feel like you're not enough, someone who calls you on your selfish ways, not to criticize, but instead to help make you a better person - that's the kind of life you want. That's the kind of person with whom you can endure any trial and come out better on the other side. On the contrary, settling or rushing into a relationship because you are lonely or desperate or just unsure will almost always cause nothing but heartache.  If he isn't the person I described above now, he never will be. You won't change him. Please, please believe me on this. It's better to let go now rather than suffer years of heartache and disappointment when he's not all you had hoped he would be. 

2. You don't DESERVE anything. Can we be honest for a minute and say that we live in a spoiled culture? We live in a time and place where the overwhelming majority feel that we are owed something...that just because we were born, we deserve certain treatment, certain possessions, and certain rights. Do you think that just because a person was born in Africa to a mother and father with AIDS, they deserve less than you? No. We are blessed beyond measure. I don't understand it. I don't know why I was born to a wonderful family in the United States of America. But I was, and I am so blessed. The only response to that, in my opinion, is to live every day with gratitude. Work HARD. Set your alarm, get out of bed, and with gratitude go to work/school and give it your all. Because you don't deserve that bed or the house it's in or the job you have. They are all blessings. Keep it in perspective. You might not live in a mansion and drive a $100,000 car, but you don't live in a place where you have to have sex with a man who has AIDS in order to get clean drinking water for your family. Live with gratitude. 

3. Go to sleep every night with a clean conscience. Feeling guilt over bad decisions you have made is the WORST. It will tear you up emotionally, physically, and relationally. Allow that guilt to compile over time and it will consume you. So don't let it happen. Live above reproach. Even when telling the truth is hard, do it anyway. When you get paid in cash, don't pocket it, report it as income. Give your spouse/parents the password to your phone and never care if they look at it...because you have nothing to hide. If you borrow money, pay it back. If you tell someone you'll be there, be there. And be there on time, not when it's convenient for you, but when it means something to the other person. When you go to sleep at night have no regrets. Know that you lived well and honestly and put others first. 

4. GIVE. Give of your time, your money, your talents. You may think that giving just benefits others (and it does), but it will benefit you more than them. Giving puts life into perspective and, again, makes you realize how blessed you are. Serving others is beneath no one. Putting others before ourselves is healthy and it's how we were intended to live. 

5. Don't ever let yourself get to a place in your life where you look back and wonder, "what if?". This was advice my Dad gave me when I was in college and I've never forgotten it. Basically it means to live with no regrets. For example, if you want to go to college then do whatever it takes to get there. Work an extra job if you have to, study harder and longer than other people, get involved in extracurricular activities. Make up your mind that you want something and DO IT. Don't just sit back and wish that things were different, do something about it! Don't allow yourself to get into your 40's (or whenever) and look back with regret that you didn't try harder. 

6. TRUST. Despite our best human efforts, life won't always turn out the way we plan or wish. Through one of the deepest struggles of my life (infertility), I have learned that when that happens the only response is to trust. Trust in a God who has a plan for you. And it's not a Plan B, it's a perfect plan. He cares so deeply for you and when you weep, He weeps. The circumstance in your life isn't a punishment. It's not. I know it feels that way. Sometimes He's teaching you a life lesson. Sometimes (if you need it...and most of us do) He's humbling you. Sometimes He is sharpening you into the person He needs for a greater purpose. And sometimes it's just the right thing for you and your life even if you can't see it. You get to choose...you can choose to live in anger, resentment and self-pity or you can choose to trust. 

7. Don't judge others. It's not our job. It's so easy to get on our high horse and look down on other people because of their decisions or actions. But listen to me, you've never lived in their shoes. You don't know the circumstances of their life that have caused them to make certain decisions. You don't know the pain that they feel. You don't know. I don't know. Our job is to show love to all people. That doesn't mean you are endorsing any kind of behavior, it means you took it seriously when God said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation..." (Mark 16:15) God is love. We are to love. He will do the judging when the time comes.

8. Surround yourself with people who are better than you. If you are the most successful person of your group of friends, it's likely you will never be any more successful. Don't be intimidated by people who are smarter, wiser, more successful or whatever, but instead learn from them. Ask them questions. Glean everything you can from the way they live their life, to how they make decisions, and how they got where they are in life. These kind of friends and/or mentors will challenge you to continue growing instead of allowing you to remain stagnant. 

9. Love with all that you are. When you find the person I described in #1, then let the guards down. I know that this opens you up to the risk of getting hurt, but it's so worth it. There is nothing in this world like the feeling of loving someone so deep that it hurts. Hold nothing back. It makes you feel alive and free and like the luckiest person on the planet. And friends, if for some reason you do get hurt, then take whatever time you need to recover and then love with all you are again. Don't let someone else's mistake destroy your ability to experience love like it's meant to be. 

10. I know it sounds cliché, but stay true to who you are and be proud of her!! I spent so many years in high school, college, and my 20's living with huge insecurities about what I looked like and if people liked the real me. I had so many insecurities that I bet if you asked friends I had during those years of my life, they would probably tell you I was pretty quiet. And let me just tell you, I'm not quiet! I was quiet because it was easier than putting myself out there. I was afraid I wasn't pretty enough or funny enough or smart enough. Oh my word, I wish I could express to you how much I regret that. Why on earth did I waste those years worrying about what other people thought so much?? I missed out on experiences and relationships because of it. Please, please I beg you, learn from my mistake. You are beautiful. You are exactly the woman God created you to be and you should be soooooo proud of her!! Look life in the face and say, "This is me! Take me as I am or move on!" Don't you dare waste a moment trying to be someone you are not just to impress another person. The freedom you will feel by being yourself is almost indescribable. And if you, like me, have already developed insecurities, the process to recover is just that...a process. For me, I still look in the mirror and speak truth. "God designed every ounce of you, Stacey Kyler. He chose that crooked nose and every other feature of your appearance. He made you sensitive and silly. He created you and He doesn't make mistakes! You are perfectly you."

Thank you for reading. I'm humbled that you spent time reading these words I wanted to share. If you have any questions, I would be MORE than happy to answer them or discuss further. You can comment below or even email me at stacey@staceykyler.com. 

And now the "I hope I don't need to say this, but probably should just in case..." statement - Because I shared personal views, I know not all of you will agree with me. And that's obviously ok. I won't, however, engage in anything other than productive discussion. Differing opinions discussed with respect for one another is amazing and the only way I am willing to communicate. :)

Comments!!  To leave a comment, click on the pencil below.  If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a google account, select Anonymous, leave your comment, and then PLEASE be sure to sign your name so our team knows who left the kind words!  Thank you!