My TOP 5 Movies

I own a video store.

Before I fell in love with my camera, I fell in love with "the movies". In fact, we opened the store because I was was watching so many movies! I don't get to watch as many now, but gosh...I love to curl up on the couch with a good tear jerker.

Being a child of divorce, Dads like to make up for lost time by indulging you in Movie Day! Yep. When we would visit him in California, he would take us to movies all day on Saturday! I loved how we would sit through 2 - 3 movies in a day and then go home, get pizza and watch more movies on cable. Love that! That was so cool that where my Dad lived had cable. Back home in Okalhoma, nothing except antennea channels and not many of those at that!

So, keeping my dysfunctional American upbringing, you can deeply understand my first selection for my Top 5 Movies.

Benji (1974)

I LOVED this movie! I bet I watched it one summer so many times, I could recite the lines. WHAT LINES? The dog basically just ran and ran and ran. All around the town. All around the neighborhood. Knocked up another white puppy dog and had a litter of mutts. But he's a keeper! Cuz, he saves the kids from the bad guys and saves the DAY! And gets a home. I could so relate to this little puppy. LOVED this movie!

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Devin hated me watching this movie! Not so much because of the movie, but because this was before DVR and he would call from Texas while I was in school in OK and I would tell him I couldn't talk and it was usually because I was watching this movie! Oh, my gosh! Me and my college roommates probably watched this 60 times that summer! And it's so much fun raising girls and soon, not yet, I can get them hooked on this movie, too. There's a great you tube.com video of a couple that did this dance for their first dance at their wedding. CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK. So, there's no way I could have talked Devin into doing this, but if I could have....so cool.

Chasing Amy (1997)

I crave dialogue movies. CRAVE well written movies, and this is ONE. Anything written by Edward Burns is this way too, as well. It's NOT for those with homophobic tendencies, but then again, maybe it is? LOL

Steel Magnolias (1989)

I have to include this one. I fell in love with Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza. Yep. Hook, line and sinker and when I saw Mystic I knew she would make it BIG. I already knew about her from reading the movie RAGS cuz I thought her brother was cute before he went down drug lane. And then, YUCH. But, this movie was perfect and is perfect for anytime you want to cry. Oh, my gosh!






Annelle: Sammy Wayne Desoto, what is this in my Frigidaire?
Sammy: Beer.
Annelle: I don't care what you do with your refrigerator, but you will not keep liquor in mine.
[dumps the beer out in the yard]
Sammy: Oh, Annelle, for Christ's sake!
Annelle: Who? Who did you say?
Sammy: Christ, Christ, Christ!
Annelle: Are you speaking of our Lord? Is that whose name you're taking in vain?
Sammy: That's the one.
Annelle: Well, I'm sorry, Sammy. But I am not about to spend the next fifty years of my life with someone I'm not gonna run into in the hereafter.
Sammy: Oh, Annelle, goddammit!
Annelle: I think we should pray.
Sammy: Oh, I'd rather eat dirt!

Shelby: Well, we went skinny dipping and we did things that frightened the fish.

Clairee Belcher: Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!

Ouiser Boudreaux: Yes, Annelle, I pray! Well, I do! There, I said it, I hope you're satisfied.
Annelle: I suspected this all along!
Ouiser Boudreaux: Oh! Well don't you expect me to come to one of your churches or one of those tent-revivals with all those Bible-beaters doin' God-only-knows-what! They'd probably make me eat a live chicken!
Annelle: Not on your first visit!
Clairee Belcher: Very good, Annelle! You've spoken like a true smart-ass!

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Anything by Cameron Crowe is a touch of the heart to me. I love his writing! LOVE it. He's also written the following:
Elizabethtown (sucked)
Vanilla Sky (sucked)
Almost Famous (awesome)
Singles (great!)
Say Anything (AWESOME!)
The Wild Life (great little sleeper hit!)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (THE BEST EVER!)

Jerry Quotes:
Dorothy: On the surface, everything seems fine. I've got this great guy. And he loves my kid. And he sure does like me a lot. And I can't live like that. It's not the way I'm built.

Jerry Maguire: I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game *featuring you*, while singing your own song in a new commercial, *starring you*, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not *sleep* until that happens. I'll give you fifteen minutes to call me back.

Jerry Maguire: Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment?

Dorothy: I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.

Now this one was hard for me to choose, mainly because of Tom and his behavior outside of the movies. The man is a FREAK. Or quickly turning into one, and that breaks my heart. I've loved him since "All the Right Moves" back durning highschool. So, it breaks my heart at how much he has changed weirdness wise, BUT the stars only add to the movies, they don't make them. To me, what makes a good movie is the writing along with the acting. So, a director is important, but the skeleton of a good movie is the script.

There! Done! Complete! Can 't believe I finally choked this thread out of my computer. I'm exhausted!

Ida Lee's 92nd Birthday!

Devin's grandmother turned 92 on Sunday! WOW! What better way to celebrate than with your family. Happy Birthday Ida Lee! I'll be over soon to hook up that new digital frame!

the bednarz boys

It was time.

Time for a family portrait.

You may recognize several of these faces. I covered Levi's birth back before Christmas. He is now 5 months old and soooo cute! I had a wonderful time hanging out with these fun boys! Our main focus was the family, but gosh! How can one resist these faces!!!

cooper pirates

THEY WON!

I had heard about the game against Kermit. It was thrilling, I was told. But I didn't get to make it as I was working that night, so when I had the chance to go and photograph the varsity play off game against Synder, I was THERE! It was so much fun being down on the floor and watching close up and hearing the crowd! So much fun!

The added bonus? They WON! It was very close for 3 quarters and I think Synder thought in the third that they had them beat, as they stalled for quite some time. But come 4th? Our girls pressed, caused them to create turnovers galore and pulled ahead! AWESOME! I would like it if next time they rebounded quite a bit more, but hey...the end score is all that counts.

Way to GO LADY PIRATES! See you on Friday!

katie

Okay, I don't photograph that many graduates. I concentrate on weddings and a bit of family work here and there. But gosh! If they all looked and photographed like Katie (Cooper Sr. 2007), I could see me doing this FULL TIME! Just check out these eyes! WOW!
































Here's a little PS for my regualr blog readers. Eli is on her way to MD Anderson! This is an answer to prayers! Thanks for your hearts.

eli, my top 5 for you

Many of you know the "news" in our family of recent, but many don't. And I don't want to talk about it much here, as I'm not the one to share her story. She is. But since I like to tell stories through images, here's my part of the story.

I know this is supposed to be my Top 5 Images and why they are so important to me. Why they touch my heart. Why they make me feel.

Why they make me feel.

But I've tried to post several times this past few days and I can't get past, "the feeling" part. I simply can't.

All I can feel and absorb myself with is Eli. So, my TOP 5 will be of her or what I'm feeling about her. As a photographer I know these images pale in what every one's expectations are of my Top 5, but roll with me and just go with it. K?

She's married to my husband's cousin, Garett. But she's so much more than that to me. She is my Cool Friend. The one who makes me feel normal and loved and REAL. She's laughs full heatedly. She's short like Bridgette, but not that short. (Kalyn wanted me to put that part in, because she loves that about Eli.) She's the one who introduced me to good wine. And good cheap wine. She carries a wine opener in her purse for goodness sake, and is so cool doing so! I love that and so much more about Eli. She loves to play card games, dice games and any games. And she usually has cards in her purse or bag or car. And she remembers how to play them? That's the part that astounds me. She remembers?

She's just FUN. That is it in a nutshell. She is FUN and when you are with her, there's JOY.

She's a BELIEVER.

Sometimes we call each other at the drop of a hat and go meet for bad movies. (we can't seem to pick good ones. LOL) And end up wearing the same color! Or, we can go eons without talking and then when we do and it's like we never stopped.

I know all of you have friends like this. Ones you connect with and LOVE and are LOVED by. That's my Eli. I ask that you hold her in your heart and head today, even for just a bit. Hold her close. She needs it. I need you to.

AND BELIEVE.

Most of you that read this blog are believers. (Got a total Izzie Feeling here from the last GA Episode...her BIG Believer Speech at the end? LOVED IT! Did you see that? Hear what she said?) By Believer I mean BELIEVE in HIM. I do.

But regardless, even if you don't consider yourself a Christain, you must have a core energy that you resonate with that you receive your peace from. Right? Well dig deep and resonate with Eli in mind.

BELIEVE that everything will be OK. BELIEVE that HE knows the plan, the will and the way. BELIEVE that Elizabeth is fighter and can FIGHT and will FIGHT.

BELIEVE THAT GOD CAN HEAL.

BELIEVE in the GOOD.

I believe we will all wear lime green and go to really bad movies at midnight.

I believe that we will have the chance to laugh and live always.

I believe that when we laugh we will laugh some more about how laughing makes us pee. and snort. and get silly.

That's my good.

Okay, now for the pictures.

The first one on this post and the one below is from Eli's birthday this year. I have many more images I could dig though, but I don't want to cry right now. (even though I have in the two days I've tried to post this) Gosh, Girl! I didn't even put on makeup for you this night? Or maybe I did and it is all washed off now? From laughing? Not too sure there. It could be from the "lemon drops" Jill kept buying us. See, I share an October BDAY with Eli. She's the 27th, I'm the 21st. And we went to hear Elivs and the Busboys play on a Friday night. These photographs were taken in the back seat of my Yukon around 2 AM while Bridgette was driving. I will get in serious trouble for posting these and at the time I distinctly remember Eli saying, "These better not show up on your Blog, Kristin!" But since I look decidedly worse than her, I think I'm OK. right?





We had such a great time that night. We made memories.

There's something in the works. And I need you to stay tuned. If you are a Catholic Believer (or not) and simply want to participate, please drop me an email at info@kristinbednarz.com. So many people feel like they want to do something. Anything. o they can deal with the pain. And Keri Bednarz (my other cousin I love) has that something she's working on.

Stay tuned. We need your hearts.

san angelo

I spent the better part of yesterday driving to San Angelo to meet Leslie and Ronnie. These two are tying the knot this summer and I couldn't be happier for them. I meet many of my clients before the e-session, but many times it's just by phone and email and I have to get a mental picture in my head of what the couple will be like and wonder how they will be together.

I was sooooo NOT disapointed in these two! They were adorable together and just plain happy and at ease. I love that! When we added Jessica and Wayne, Ronnie's kids, it only made the bunch bigger and better.

Can't wait till the wedding!
































Cyber Sista interruption... doesn't Lelise remind you of one of us? Huh? Does she? I was so getting a Kenda vibe on this one. Seriously. And I haven't forgotten about the topic of the week! And each and every one of you was totally right. It's sooooo hard for me.

new slideshow!

CLICK HERE to view Veronika and Stephen's slideshow from this weekend!

veronika + stephen (part 2)

What a day! I'm exhausted and really have no energy at all. Wiped. Toast. DONE with a capitol D. WHEW! But every bit of it was worth it to be a part of yesterday. Veronika and Stephen had a beatiful mass at St. Joseph Church in Slaton, yesterday. My home church. And the priest that married me 16 years ago, married her! So, funny. I went up to him and introduced myself and told him that he was our priest and he asked "your not mad at me, are you?" HA! Hmm...Am I?

We started a the salon and it was so nice for the girls to all be together and enjoy each other for a peaceful morning. And yes, we ran terribly late and did not even get to do the amount of pictures that I would have liked too, but you know? Looking through these today? What else could be added? They have tons of wonderful, joyful images. Which is just want you want to look back on and remember you day!

On to the images! This is just the sneak peek. Their full gallery will be available in just a bit at the link below.

Veronika + Stephen


Robyn and Meghan enjoying the morning. Robyn's hair, I swear took almost a full hour to put up. Maybe longer! Who knows? But turned out very cool and funky.


This is little Mary, the groom's neice. Such a total doll!


Veronika's gorgeous head piece!




So, many good hugs! The kind where you just hold on and enjoy each other. I love those kind of hugs!



Love this shot and all the HOT colors going on!







A moment before it all began. I love these moments!

veronika + stephen (part 1)

The rehearsal...

I'm supposed to be blogging about My Top 5 PICS, and I'm sure theres gils in that group that have their expectations UP way high for the photographer of the blog group, HA! But I'm sorry girls, it will have to wait. It's a working weekend for me and my week has just been a whirlwind of emotions! If you give me till Sunday afternoon, and after a pot or two of coffee, I will pop them out. I've got a great idea that I'm working on, and it relates to the emotional week I have had. So, hang tight and you will not be disapointed!

After my emotional week, it was good to work again. Last night was the rehearsal for Veronika and Stephen's wedding. Once my camera was up to my face, that dance I get into took over and just washed over me and renewed me!!! It was what I needed! I love it when God nudges you like that and you realize it was what you needed all along. Why do we resist?

My church, St. Joseph in Slaton. I was married here! In fact, Veronika baby sat for me and if my girls weren't busy this weekend, would actually be a part of this wedding. They are bummed, and instead, Veronika gets me. (smiles)




Veronika has been sick all week. Miserably sick. But Stephen and her are so good for each other. Just look at her face!












These three were so much fun!






Rehearsals are good. All the things you hadn't even thought about, concerning your day, they come up. All the sudden. And you have to think about them. And discuss them. HA!









Adorable Flower Girl, Cambry. She belongs to Connie Kitten who I got to see last night. They now live in Corpus Christi so it will be good catching up with their family.









This little guy probably just to told about the responsiblities of tomorrow. Look at this face!




Veronika figuring out her right hand.














We are going to have such a great time at the wedding! I'm so happy for them!

too much fun

I'm having a blast with these BIG images and feel so releived now that I know how to do it! So much better BIG.

I was just doing a test earlier with the post about the actions, and didn't intend to really leave it up, but got several emails, and a phone call about it, so here it is AGAIN.

This is the original ADORABLE image of Brook and Brian. Fine just as it is.



And here it is with a Totally Rad BOUTWELL Action applied.




I then dialed down the opacity of the action, to bring in more color.



All are a great way to showcase a great image. To view or purchase these actions for your editing, simply click HERE. The Boutwells are an AWESOME husband and wife team in Southern Cal that are just ULTRA cool.

I will warn you right now about their blog, Totally Addicting!

brooke + brian

Meet Brooke.




Meet Brian.




Meet Brooke + Brian.





They are getting married this May here in Lubbock and I've clicked with them the 2nd I met them. I love that! We spent this afternoon hanging out in all the cool places to photograph in Lubbock. It was so much fun! I could talk shop while photographing the two of them, and they were so cool in their skin and easy and just plain fun.

I had such a good Sunday.

michael

Michael is graduating from Lubbock High this year and DID NOT want his photograph taken. He was doing this just to get "mom off his back". I must say, he proved to be one of my most difficult subjects EVER to photograph. He was ready to quit 10 minutes in and like most teenagers, wanted to go home and sleep.

But no. Not allowed. I wanted to shoot. So, I think I won him over and even though he would never EVER admit it, I think deep down, he enjoyed it.

See for yourself.

lonestar 1995

No, not my daughter's soccer team. But a great soccer team all the same! They can never be my favorite soccer team, but they wear the spirit and the heart and good looks of ALL Lubbock Lonestar Teams! LOL

Allow me to introduce them. (in no paticular order)

Coach Gabriel

Alex

Mandy

Amber

Mia

Hannah

Briana

Casandra

Mackenzie

Michaela

Sydney

Megan

Katie

Andrea

Jelisa

Brittany

Desirae

You can view the rest of Lonestar 95's photographs by clicking HERE.