Category: Self-exploration

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The Newest Gift Shop in Nac

House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes}
House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes}
House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes}
House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes}

A Year of Change
We get a lot of questions these days about the changes we’ve made at the studio. One is, “Why would you want to change the name of your business from G Patterson Photography Studio to House of Photography?” and “What is this I hear about you selling gifts?” or “You can teach me photography?”

This year certainly has been a year of change with our small town business. For the past 25 years, we have been photographers. Pretty simple! Photography has changed dramatically the past 10 years. The idea of who and what a photographer has changed as well. But to answer the questions in very broad terms, the reason for this change is that we see Nacogdoches undergoing many positive changes and we wanted to be part of that effort, making this town we call home the best it can be.  Utilizing our talents as photographers, experience in graphic design plus the love and ability to create unique products has allowed us to “think outside the box!”

25 Years of Professional Photography
There’s many things we do right at House of Photography like capturing professional photographs, providing beautiful surroundings and backdrops for those photos, great customer service, and the ability to finish the art with professionally printed portraits worthy to hang on your wall. This is our passion and will continue to be our focus! We LOVE creating photos that make you love the way you look.

Learning Photography from a Pro
We’ve even put our expert knowledge of photography to work by teaching people of all ages the basics of photography in both our kids photography camps and adult photography classes. Just this year we have taught almost 100 people through our photography classes. Adult classes run throughout the year with new classes pretty much every month. If you want to know how to use your camera or how to see like a photographer, these classes were designed to get you started. They are FUN, FUN, FUN! You can see our current class offerings by visiting https://houseofphotography.as.me/learnphotography.

We ❤️  Nacogdoches and SFA! Introducing the Newest Gift Store in Nacogdoches
With our love for this town we proudly call home along with our favorite university-SFA, we embarked on a venture, an idea really to help promote what makes this place so unique. We want to highlight the history of Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas! We also want to shine a light on some of our local talent, artists, and makers. All of this wrapped up together led us to rename, rebrand, and build something totally unique.

With twenty-five years of experience in photography, you wouldn’t be surprised to find an overarching theme to just that.  Some of the photography related gifts include camera stickers, camera patches, camera straps, camera bags, etc. We have scenic Nacogdoches photographs for purchase by local photographer Wendy Floyd; also, some great photography including Big Bend and our local Goodman Bridge prior to being moved to Pecan Park.

House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes}
House of Photography {Gifts + Photos + Classes} Greg & Cindy Patterson with Haley Compton

Nacogdoches Gifts, SFA Gifts, Gifts for Men, Photography Gifts, etc…
Because our town boasts such diverse talent, we also have bath products, wood carvings, coffee mugs, drink coasters and jewelry made right here, all of which make great gifts! You’ll find whimsical products like camera purses, camera bubble blowers, t-shirts, hats and unique and award winning greeting cards, Nacogdoches post cards, SFA post cards, as well as other products devoted to SFA. All these together with a handful of supplies for the amateur photographer combine to create a collection of unique and fun gifts. 

When you leave House of Photography, we hope you’ll tell others of the unique experience you had here; but, also, a sense of deja vu as we’ve chosen black and white prints from the past 100 years to decorate our walls and help bring a little recognition and prestige to SFA and the beautiful town it which it calls home.

The quaintness and attention to personal detail you receive in shops like the ones in downtown Nacogdoches is a real appeal. So, we hope you’ll drop in and experience all the changes we’ve made. You can even leave with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee while the weather’s cold.

New Hours
One last note, from now until Christmas, we will be open Monday 11 am to 4 pm, Tuesday-Friday 10 am to 5:30 pm and Saturday 11 am to 4 pm.

 

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Blog Events Rambling Self-exploration

Purple Runs Through These Veins

Lumberjack Studio
Lumberjack Studio

As the saying goes, “I wasn’t born in Nacogdoches, but I came as soon as I could.” Greg and I both grew up in Dallas, and my family would often make the short 1 1/2 hr. drive to Tyler State Park to camp out in the summer. And, that’s where I fell in love with the Pineywoods. I often wish for those first summers back when I was a young girl and smelled the fragrance of the pine trees and felt their soft needles under my bare feet. It was lush and brilliant green, and so different from the concrete jungle of MY hometown. Fast forward to now, and I’m so grateful for the steps that brought me here and for the life for which God has privileged me.

I couldn’t write my life story and leave SFA out. It’s been Greg’s employer for the last 29 years; it’s, also, where we each received our degrees. Like so many others, that town that was home to the university to which we came as freshman, eventually became OUR town.

When we were first married, Greg was photographer for the student newspaper, the Pine Log, and I was a student worker in the Computer Science department. Our daughter was born when we lived in the New Raguet Apartments. This was student family housing on the grounds that now belongs to the SFA Charter School. Many afternoons were spent fishing, picnicking, and walking at the Ag Pond. Collegiate sports was comprised of Lumberjack football and Ladyjack basketball and not much else.

It doesn’t take long to grow roots in a town such as Nacogdoches. You spend enough time here weaving common interests with people at your church, in your school, at your job, you can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m reminded of the quote from Our Town, “Does anyone ever realize life while they live it…every, every minute?”

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So, here we are again, on the eve of another SFA Homecoming. You’d think after thirty-two of them, they’d become dull. But as I grow older (and wiser), I realize those same things we thought were boring, have become the things that have endeared us to this place. Surprisingly, I’m hoping to attend yet another SFA Homecoming parade. I might even throw up an “Ax’em Jacks.”

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Blog Photo Gear Rambling Self-exploration Travel

New Mexico, Land of Enchantment

Okay, so Greg and I traveled to New Mexico last week for a backpacking trip in the mountains…well, and to sample the awesome cuisine! It’s in the name, right? New MEXICO? Who knew driving just one state over could take as long as it would’ve taken to get to Florida if we’d gone in the opposite direction. Or, pretty close.

When going backpacking, one does not just throw stuff into their backpack and go, Greg tells me. It takes an enormous amount of planning (and half of what REI has to offer, apparently.) When packing, a good rule of thumb is to not pack more than what your back can handle! It’s not rocket science, but it does require you to ask such questions as, “Do I really need a coat or can I get by with a fleece jacket?” or “How small amount of food can sustain me each day?” Thankfully, this wasn’t our first rodeo, so we knew that skimping in these areas could make for a tortuous trip!

Greg could’ve easily left his camera and tripod and extra lens at home, but would Dr. Who leave his screwdriver? or Dora leave her backpack? or Ernie his Rubber Duckie? Boy, was I glad we weren’t relying on my rinky-dink camera to give us those awesome shots of our epic vacation. So, below are two sets of pictures from the same trip. I bet you can tell which ones are Greg’s and which are mine.

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Being in a place like New Mexico surrounded by the beauty of it’s landscapes, structures and nature, you understand Georgia O’Keeffe when she said, “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way…things I had no words for.”

Besides our backpacking adventure, we visited the towns of Albuquerque, Taos and, lastly, Santa Fe. Did you know Santa Fe has over 250 art galleries as well as a variety of museums and performing arts? By the end, I’d seen so much raw beauty in nature and in the renderings of so many painters, sculptures, photographers and other craftsmen, I felt full. In fact, gluttonous to the point of feeling selfish. I wanted to share something of my own world before I left their world.

Driving home, I thought of my own little “neck of the woods.” And, in my woods the trees are tall and beautiful and stay green all year. And, the ground is lush with grasses and gardens. We should all be inspired wherever we go and by whatever we see. We should want to come back from our travels and, “Bloom where we are planted.” God created me just the way I am to the family and place I was born. Who am I to argue about anything?

So, the food wasn’t Mexican food I’m accustomed to having in East Texas. The most popular restaurants seemed to be the ones that served “New Mexican,” and your waiter asks if you want red or green chile. It did not disappoint!

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Blog Rambling Self-exploration

This Old House

So many people over the years since we’ve lived in the house at 122 N. Mound Street have said to us, “Don’t you love old houses?” I guess they don’t know what I know about this one. They don’t have to put up with the creaky floors, the plumbing that always needs attention and the exorbitant energy bills.

Actually, we don’t live there. But, I joke that because of the number of hours we work there, it feels like home. Where we live is much newer say…by about a hundred years or so. Everything in the newer house still works properly. Things haven’t been remodeled, refurbished, reworked and replaced a hundred times. For all my complaining, though, I’m proud to be the owner of the old house, because it has a proud history.Nelson Home P65H_48

 

It was built and designed by the German-born Rulf brothers. Dietrich Rulfs designed so many homes in the area over a wide span that he’s become known as Nacogdoches’ master architect. Dr. Nelson, for whom the house was built, was the son of A. A. Nelson, a sailor who became district surveyor in Nacogdoches for many years. He rubbed elbows with people like Adolphus Sterne, Haden Edwards, Sam Houston and Thomas Rusk. All we know of these people is part of recorded history, but we’ve been told some of what’s happened to the house and its occupants since. These stories come to us in bits and pieces from various people. An appreciation for this old house deepens with each new story I hear. They’re like clues as to what this house once was or about the people who it once knew, and it leaves me wanting to know more. All these snippets have become like puzzle pieces that don’t fit together.

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One question I’ve pondered since moving into the house thirteen years ago was about the wainscot that runs all through the house. Most of it was painted at some point, except for the room into which you enter the house. The wainscot in that room was made from burl wood, the likes of which could be used by a sculpture. This room is the one you see first; originally, it would have been the room in which suitors would wait for their date. But, I’d wondered why it didn’t wear the coats of paint that the other wainscot wears.

A piece to that puzzle fell into place at the Blueberry Festival. When I met Eric, he was inside the house studying the beautiful wood as it wrapped around a door opening. Eric Gaylord told me he’d once been a member of a fraternity that lived in the house. He said that he and a buddy had restored the wainscot in that room to it’s former glory, a painstaking process he assured me. As founding member of the frateFullSizeRenderrnity, I surmised that he’d taken it upon himself to do a little “sprucing up” of the place which included stripping the paint in the entrance. There were so many questions I would have liked to ask him, but the busyness of the day took him to his next appointment quickly
When I’m alone in the house and it’s quiet, I think about the people who lived here before me and the questions they could answer. I wonder if I had all the puzzle pieces finally in place, they’d form many puzzles. After all this old house has outlived many of its occupants and, most likely, many more to come.

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Babies Blog Children Family Graduating Seniors Pets Portrait Sessions Rambling Self-exploration Weddings

Bah, humbug!

It’s not that I don’t like the Christmas season, I’d rather focus on the Christmas reason, you know, the why we do all of this. I’ve had the Christmases that were perfect, with everyone unwrapping all that they asked for, the cooked-to-perfection meal for twenty, and the decorations that could make the spread in “Home and Gardens.” All of that takes lots of shopping and planning for what to buy, and it’s so stressful! And to be honest, I’m just not a big shopper. I know I stand in stark contrast to the many people who live for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I don’t pore through on-line ads or those in the newspaper. My nickname could be “make do”, because I’m fine with last year’s styles (and in some cases, last decade’s styles), and I love repurposing things. My husband would tell you it takes me longer scraping the last of the contents from this bottle or that than it would to go out and buy a new one.

I’m probably an offense to every red-blooded Amansfield_2893merican girl who shops for the sake of shopping.  Forget window shopping; I’m more like a guy when I shop. As soon as I see what I need, I bag and tag it and move to the next store! I abhor clutter, whether it’s in my home, car or even on my computer. I’ve never collected knickknacks, though I think they’re really pretty in other people’s homes.

One thing I don’t mind having a lot of or spending time shopping for are pictures. Pictures on the wall, in albums, on blankets and pillows, and even on my coffee mugs! Pictures for myself and those I buy for others. I like pictures of all kinds, my kids in school, my family on vacation or enjoying the holidays or ones depicting our everyday lives. Pictures that show us happy, sad or melancholy. They help me remember what we were doing this time last year, five years ago, twenty years ago, or in the case of my parents’ pictures, a lifetime ago. When I look at pictures of me and my loved ones, it helps me to remember who I am and what’s important to me. They preserve our memories and remind us how grateful we are for one another.

I’ll make no excuses for not having the most brightly lit house on the street this year, because I’ll be reminiscing over pictures from Christmases past and remembering what’s really important to me. That brings me back to the real reason why we put so much focus on this day of the year. The day Jesus entered this world, nothing would be the same. It set into motion a plan that from the beginning made a way for us to be saved. Christ alone is the one who saves; this is nothing we can do for ourselves. John 3:16 says, “For God so loves the world, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting lmansfield_2893ife.”

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Blog Rambling Running/Recreation Self-exploration self-help

For those of you who still think losing weight will make you happy

G Patterson Studio portrait garden. Nacogdoches Texas.

When Meghan Trainor came on the scene with her hit, “It’s All About the Bass,” denouncing those that would judge another because of their weight, we were all in enthusiastic agreement. To be honest, though, we size people up every day based on all kinds of things from how much money we make to where someone attends college. Retailers devote a lot of their budget to find out where you shop and what drives your shopping choices. We answer questions everyday about people using our inferential powers, so what can you do when someone labels you “fat” or “overweight”? There may not be anything you can do about how others treat you according to the way you look, but what if you could respond in a positive way?

Answer the following questions to find out if you’re affected by how others see you:

1. Have you ever tried on an outfit that you loved on the rack until you put it on and decided it’d look better on someone else?
2. Have you ever declined that first helping of dessert because everyone else at the table was thinner than you?
3. Have you ever thought about putting something important or fun off until you lose some weight?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of the questions, it might be time for a change, but not the kind you’re thinking about.

We’ve all heard stories of someone who lost the weight they’d been hoping to lose for a long time, only to find they were just as unhappy as they were before they lost the weight? How realistic is it to think that making a change on the outside could change how we feel on the inside that much? If you want to be truly happy, try making these changes instead.

Don’t look to others to make you happy; they’ll always let you down. Have you held onto resentment, anger, hurt and bitterness because of what another person said or did to you? Do forgive and forget, and you’ll begin to help you heal by replacing those feelings with something positive like treating others with kindness. By praising another person or just listening to them, you gain power, and you may gain another friend.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Most of what we worry about are either things that won’t matter in a day or next week, or they’re things we can’t change. Do give thanks. Keep a gratitude journal where you write down exactly what you’re grateful for each day. Doing so helps you maintain stress, gives you happier moods and greater optimism.

You may say, “You wouldn’t believe the problems I face.” But, you’ll always have failures in life, that’s a given. You can change the way you see them. Don’t make excuses by blaming others for your problems; doing so means you’ll unlikely be able to overcome them. Happy people take responsibility for their mistakes. Why not see your problem as a challenge to make a positive change in your life?

It’s true, there are some things out of your control. But, focus on the things you can. Waking up at the same time every morning enhances productivity and focus, especially if you’re taking the time to pray and meditate. Eating well by avoiding junk foods or processed foods can prime your body and brain to be in a focused, happy state. When I’m grocery shopping, I keep in mind that the healthier foods are found along the walls of the store. Shop for fruits and vegetables, dairy and cheese, and meats and seafood around the perimeter of the store. Exercising every day will enhance your frame of mind and reduce stress. By doing something you know makes you healthier, your can’t help by becoming happier!

G Patterson Studio portrait garden. Nacogdoches Texas.
G Patterson Studio portrait garden. Nacogdoches Texas.
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Blog Children Family Pets Portrait Sessions Rambling Self-exploration

The Hiccup in My Brain

Pano of the portrait garden

I woke up this morning different. As always with me in February, I begin to get a little moody. I’ve always blamed it on the lack of sunshine or of being outside less often. If I don’t watch myself, I begin to care less about the things that are important to me; I begin just passing time.

As the temperature fell be a degree or two, I looked out the window and began to see the heavy raindrops turn to sleet and then, to snow. And as the snowflakes fell lightly to the ground, it seemed as though something in my thinking seemed lighter, maybe fresher? By the time I got to work, I felt entirely different from the day before. I was making lists and looking forward to the weekend. I was planning my next craft project and looking forward to making dinner tonight.

How is it that a little snow could change my whole attitude? Am I so shallow that it took an abrupt change in the weather’s pattern to shift my perspective? Why do I feel so useless, at times, when trying to gain the upper hand with my emotions?

Change, whether good or bad, can be construed as positive, in that it opens up our mind to possibilities that we couldn’t contrive before. What I experienced this morning was a simple jump start for my brain. I’m sure I could have found other ways to achieve this, such as taking my dog for a walk or visiting a sick neighbor.

Bertrand Russell said, “In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth: will you not be aware of it?”

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Avoiding work
Pano of the portrait garden
Pano of the portrait garden
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Blog Rambling Running/Recreation Self-exploration Workshops, Seminars & Talks

Nothing off the chopping block

I began running today. I’ve run plenty of other times, in fact most of my life I’ve run for recreation and leisure, but I had taken a hiatus.  I run for so many reasons. Because my pants feel tight, because I feel blue or maybe I feel “blah.” I run when I feel a little under the weather or if I’m cramping. I run to clear my head or to help me solve a problem. I run to feel the wind on my face and the sun on my shoulders.

But because I’m going through this process of “deconstructing” my life in order to put it back together better, I stopped doing many of the things I became so used to doing just because I’d always done them. The running, to me, had become symbolic of my life. Because I mindlessly cruise through my day like a hamster on its wheel, success was tied to how many “things” I could check off my list, not the meaningful interludes with people.

I was a lot like Bill Murray’s character in the movie, “Groundhog Day,” a weatherman who grudgingly travels to Punxsutawny Pennsylvania to cover Punxsutawny Phil, the groundhog. He finds the job to be beneath him, and is even more upset when he’s snowed in that night. Instead of going home the next day, though, the weatherman wakes up to find it’s the same morning of the day before. And, only he seems to know the day is a repeat. This happens morning after morning when he realizes there are no lasting consequences to his actions. Whether it’s overeating or acting like a jerk that day, it’s forgiven the next morning when he gets to live it all over again. He quickly finds this life to be a lonely one, and so to improve himself and, hopefully, “get the girl,” his outlook on life begins to change. He takes piano lessons, learns French, becomes an ice sculptor, but most importantly, he becomes a student of the people in the town he comes in contact with each day. As his focus is drawn from the inside out, he becomes a happier person and more attractive to those around him.

If I’m going to spend much time on an activity, I don’t want it to be a completely selfish and wasteful endeavor. If I’m trying to live more purposely, should something I ordinarily do by myself face the chopping block? As I run, I think about how basic, how elemental it is. By simply throwing on a t-shirt and sweats, stepping out my back door, and doing something I love, I can feel more passionately about the things that are important to me. Living my life more simply with less stress, I’m hoping to see through all my busyness to the things that really matter.

So, I’ll keep running, especially if it helpsIMG_0347 me do the things I love with the people I love for as long as I can!

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Blog Children Family Rambling Self-exploration

Taking inventory

Instead of setting some goals for myself this year, I decided to take stock of my life. With everything I do, I ask myself why am I doing this? What is my main motivation? For instance, I might ask myself why am I cleaning the house today? No one is making me, so why do it? Is this really all I have to do today? It’s not like there’s bacteria growing under and between things. It’s not that I enjoy it that much. Do I do it because it’s expected of me? If someone sees it dirty, what might they think of me? This is the dialogue I have with myself a lot lately, and I’m not liking hearing what I’m saying.

If my main motivation of doing anything is to keep up this facade, this perfect person I want to display to the world, how will I ever know the real person inside? You might argue that becoming a better person is a good motivator. But, what if that ambition to be a better this or a better that makes us blind to how we’ve manipulated those around us? Getting what we want, in essence, has stolen away some really great relationships. Returning to the cleaning house analogy, what if I kept the cleanest house in town, but I’ve distanced my family, because I got mad every time something was set out of place?

I’m reminded of the question that brought me here. Why don’t I enjoy life more? Is it because I’ve filled it with a lot of things I think need to get done.
How many of us go through the day checking things off a list. How many of us have grown weary because we’ve followed the same list for so long? Grocery shopping on Monday, Bible study on Wednesday, date night with hubby on Friday, try to impress the boss today, make this month’s budget in order to have something to put in college fund, and so on and so forth. All those things are really good, but if we’re doing the same things the same way all the time, we could forget why we’re doing them. Have we forgotten that every day is a blessing, and we have some latitude as to which way it should go. You say you’ve never been good at navigation?
How about daydreaming? But isn’t that a waste of time. Try telling that to Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, Albert Einstein or Adele? All admit to daydreaming. So, what’s stopping you, except for that careful plan you laid out for yourself. You better be careful; life might pass you by.

This week I’m looking at the book of Ecclesiastes, and here’s what King Solomon, the smartest man ever had to say about life, “I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.”

A better question to ask myself before doing anything might be, “Does this have any eternal value? Or does this simply help make me a busy person?”
In the words of King Solomon, (I’m paraphrasing here) “It’s not the end of the world. Don’t sweat it!”

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Middlebrook

Let us raise our flags together in unity.

Golden Retriever and winner of the "Awesomest Dog in the Universe" Award frolics in bluebonnets.

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Blog Rambling Self-exploration

My love affair

The road less traveled
Family picture
Family picture
Broad horizon
Broad horizon
The road less traveled
The road less traveled

You don’t have to worry, I still love my husband very much. I’m beginning to wonder, though, if I love myself more. A lot more! You see, I’ve been casually observing the thoughts that run through my head, and it would seem I am obsessed with myself. From the time I wake up in the morning to when I fall asleep, I’m primarily concerned with how to promote MY agenda. You’d think with all this self-preference, I’d be a truly happy person, and I am…generally. When I think about all the ways God has blessed me with a beautiful, healthy family, I get all warm and fuzzy inside. That is until I let that obsessive and ineffective chattering inside my head get the better of me.

Being more mindful of my thoughts has made me aware of how much time I spend either thinking about the past or worrying about the future. This, at the detriment of not fully living life now, as it’s happening. It seems that I’m constantly living in fast-forward, anticipating what will happen next. I look forward to the holiday season each year. There are so many different reasons to love this time of year. It’s a time that we can lay aside our busy schedules and enjoy being with each other. All the smells and tastes remind me of wonderful Christmases I’ve enjoyed since childhood. It’s like we insulate ourselves in a cocoon of sharing and warmth. It’s a perfect occasion designed for “living in the present.” But this year, if I’m truly honest with myself, my expectations fell flat. Did I plan and stress so much about what would happen, that whatever was going to happen was destined to fail? I’m reminded of this quote by Hemingway, “Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you’ve lived nearly half the time you have to live already?” I’m more acutely aware of this state of mind when given my current age.

This year will be a year of change for me. This is the year I pray and meditate, and stop allowing my thoughts to get the better of me. I don’t expect that I’ll stop becoming angry, resentful, jealous or any other negativity. But, hopefully, they’ll come more slowly, so that I can recognize it when it comes and meet it with a response rather than a reaction.

The following verses I plan to meditate on this week:

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

I’ll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.