My dad phoned us in the morning to tell us they broke into our new house. Iaan and I just moved there a week ago and things were still half unpacked. But now EVERYTHING is gone. All electronics, all cameras, all lenses, all my hard drives. Our tv, all my jewelery & engagement ring, some of our kitchen and every single thing in our offices. (except my laptop that I had with me)

At this moment I’m kinda lost for words and my thoughts are all jumbled up. Our new house. Privacy. Security complex. All our stuff. Stuff that’s personal. All our traveling and personal photos. All my photos from my career. Everything I’ve ever worked for. Gone.

Basically I just want to ask, if you see anything that was in my kit or any of my western digital hard drives for sale (or my engagement ring) online or in a cash converters or cash crusaders, please let me know.

Also a R10 000 reward will be paid to anyone that returns my harddrives and data. Please spread the word. Even if they return it anonymous. All hard drives were stored in a plastic see through crate with lime green handles. All hard drives were western digital. +- 15 powered ones (the size of a brick and +- 12 small black ones.

Thank you for everyones prayers and support.

x

My mom was the miracle worker in the past four months. She has been our project manager and she has been keeping the whole project together. Iaan and I had some ideas, but she and my dad made it happen.

I never knew anything about building, but I found out much more as the project continued. Thank goodness my mom knows so much! :) And one thing I learned is that the paint colours are NEVER what they look like on the sample sheets :)

Amongst the house building, I realized we had to be out our current house by 30th November. Candice (my other miracle worker and PA) was the chief in charge of packing, organizing and keeping me sane. Candice took up the task of packing up our offices and parts of our house. While I was editing with one hand and answering emails with the other, I helped her to ‘orginize’ the packing in such a way that we still know where everything was, because in the back of my mind, I knew we probably have to stay with my parents for a few weeks before we can move into our new house.

So why am I writing all of this. Well, basically just to let you know moving, packing and building a house is super exciting, but loads of work and stress. Yesterday, we finally moved out of our old home and the boxes are standing in storage till we can move into the new place. Because of all of this, I still have a few emails waiting to be answered. But I’m working with all 10 fingers at the speed of white light. So I promise they will be answered soon. And some blog post coming your way too :)

Amongst all the chaos and boxes and duck tape and a random informal office setup in my parent’s dining room, I’m happy. I feel this is a beginning of a new season. And to top it all, my dear friend Lizelle Lotter posted the photos of our styled shoot in the raw, unfinished house today. Iaan and myself had the idea of doing a shoot in our new house and I’m so glad we did it!! What an awesome shoot to remember this new beginning (click HERE to see the full shoot). Thank you to Foci for their lovely couch!

Blessed, blessed and blessed is all I can say.

Thank you to Lizelle for the AMAZING AWESOME photos! And thank you to everyone that’s making this dream come true, especially my dad that’s helping us!! We are forever and ever grateful. Thank you to mom and dad putting up with all our stuff in your dining room. We promise this is not a permanent arrangement! 

And of course a very big thank you to our photographer Julie Lim for our amazing photos!! (If you haven’t seen our photos, you can view them here) To read more about our other service providers, visit this post.

So, what’s been happening on this side? If you’re not on my FB page, you’ve been missing out, because I’ve been sharing some of our news there. So make sure you’re signed up if you don’t want to miss out :)

One of the main reasons I’ve been so quiet over here is because we’ve been working on the exciting new launch of www.theprettyblog.com. The Pretty Blog is my side project with my friend Nicola Pretorius. We run a daily inspirational blog for brides, homemakers and moms. Our blog has been a huge blessing to me and I love to see the growth of it! This June was our first year anniversary and we decided to give it a little (as Nicola calls it) blog Botox :) We revamped the blog a bit and added some much needed and practical new features.

On a personal note, we’re also building a house. Yes you heard me, WE’RE BUILDING A HOUSE! (We’ve officially crossed over to the grown up side :) I still can’t believe it, but it’s true :) It’s absolutely a dream come true and we’re so excited. Hopefully iaan and I can move in, this coming December. Which means lots of shopping around for great ideas, cute furniture and some interesting research about all the things I have no idea about :) So if you know any cool people/shops etc, please leave their details below, we’re still shopping around for pretty things.

And on the house topic, we introduced a new lifestyle section on www.theprettyblog.com, so you’ll be able to read about some cool home and decor ideas on the blog soon.

So, that’s my little update…but keep your eyes on the blog later today for some super cuteness! :)

photo credit to www.call-me-cupcake.blogspot.com

Firstly I have to thank my awesome partner Nicola for all the amazing work she has been doing for the blog. I love working with her! They say you have to choose the people you work with wisely, even more carefully than you choose a life partner and I have to agree, this was a match made in heaven! Nicola is a blessing beyond my wildest dreams. I know this is only the first year of many more to come! Thank you Nicola for all your patience! For your hard work and you’re enthusiasm! The blog could not have been this awesome without you!

photo credit to welovepictures

Also a big thank you to all the other people who contribute to the blog! Our regular DIY contributors, Anelle from Seven Swans, Bianca Packham from The Printerie, Mariaan Lombard from ilovemstudio, Nancy Flint from Creatus, all our guest bloggers as well as our sponsors. Without you this dream will not be possible.

Then also a big hug to Iaan my husband! Without him I wouldn’t even know what blogging was :)

Keep an eye out for this weeks celebrations on The Pretty Blog. We’ll be handing out some great prizes!

This morning iaan and I just went for a jog towards the Munich Olympic stadium. The park is gorgeous and huge, with some spectacular architecture! Here are some iphone pics :)

Finally here I am. Sitting in Carmen & Ingo’s apartment in München, writing a blog post. I feel like I’m in a movie with a European backdrop. Tying away with a view of all the apartments around us. It’s actually surreal!

iphone photo: Me and iaan in Munich :)

In the past weeks Candice (my PA), Adri (my editor) and I wrapped up all the weddings of the season. It was fun, but hard work. Now I’m here in Europe, excited to do some shoots, workshops and a holiday. If you were wondering about our itinerary, here is a little summary:

19-23 June: Munich
23-29 June: Mallorca, Spain: Shooting a wedding with Claire Morgan.
29 June – 9 July: Munich
1 July: Couple shoot
2 July: Wedding in Munich with Doreen Winking
6-7 July: Wedding Photography workshop (4 more seats available)
8 July: Family shoot
10 – 20 July Holland
12 July: Social Media Workshop Holland (seats available)
13-14: Wedding Photography workshop (sold out)
20 – 24 July: Paris, France
25-31 July: Barcelona, Spain
1 August: Zurich, Switzerland
2 – 4 August: Munich
5 August: Home sweet home, Stellenbosch

Another exciting thing that happened the past week, is the fact that our house plans was FINALLY approved by the municipality and as far as I know, they started with the ground work this week. Which is a VERY, VERY exciting for us! Iaan and I have been dreaming of building our own place, but never thought it will be so close! And now it’s here. So I’ll keep you up to date on the exciting progress. One of the things I really want to do in our new house, is add some wall tattoos to the walls. I just love them!! I found these cool ones of the world map on Etsy. Definitely adding on of those! :)

iphone photo: Me and Iaan on our piece of land in Somerset West.

I have a special connection to the west coast. It’s so clean, beautiful, serene and absolutely a place where you can rest! One of the places I love in particular is Jakkalsfontein.

I invited some of our closest friends and we spent a ‘suprise’ weekend away on the beach. Slept almost the whole weekend and just had a great time. I loved every moment.

Thanks to the ShoreHouse for letting us stay in their incredible accommodation! If you’re ever looking for a house for the weekend. This place will rock your socks off!

Yes, I’m basically just going to say it…I’m really tired and stressed out. And I know very few photographers, or I don’t think any, that ever blog about the down side of being a business owner and stressed. But I just had to do it. It’s been a long time since I wrote a personal post and I recently discovered something. Transparency rocks! I’m a person right? I have feelings and I go though emotions. Sometimes I have great ideas and sometimes I don’t. Some days I’m over worked and sometimes I feel on top of the world. And that’s normal right? Being perfect all the time is not who I am. I’m honest, open and I want to tell you how I feel :)

I too, sometimes feel like I just want to stay in bed and not put on make-up…

But don’t worry, today I feel better! I had some good sleep and most of all I have some amazing people around me. Without them, I will not be here! They lift me up when I’m down and they encourage me, and just reading this post makes me want to thank you too, because I believe we all need a wake up call now and then. Everything isn’t always perfect, but that’s ok. So today I challenge you. Be honest, be open, talk to people, be real, but then, after you opened up and let go, think of all your blessings… Think of all your friends and family. Think of your art/business/inspiration/dreams and then smile! And to add to the goodness, go out  (change your environment every once in a while) and have a coffee…and a piece of cake of course (ps Melissas has the best carrot cake in this world!!) Because at the end (as iaan says) Everything will be ok!

Yesterday I did something I’ve never done before…I posted a ‘I don’t feel that well’ update on Facebook and within minutes there were so many comments!!! Thank you to every person who commented and share something with me that made my day! So if you feel bad and need inspiration here is a little something for you!

ps how awesome is this ‘about’ page on www.workisnotajob.com?

image from CherriesBerries

]]> http://www.christinemeintjes.co.za/2011/05/26/feeling-blue/feed/ 15 http://www.christinemeintjes.co.za/2011/04/19/life/ http://www.christinemeintjes.co.za/2011/04/19/life/#comments Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:21:26 +0000 christine http://www.christinemeintjes.co.za/?p=11426 Today I want to share this poster with you, that I firstly saw online. It is something that I just had to save and keep on my laptop. It really made me think.

Life is full of things. And things keep us busy. I’m the queen of being busy and lately I started feeling like I should sometimes just live, say no to everything the world expects of me and just do some things that make me smile. I don’t want to say from today on things are going to change, because they never really do. We all know that. But the first step is to recognize if we want to make some changes in our lives and secondly is to start implementing things that will bring change :) And then, when things have changed, I will write about my experience. Then I can truly say I’ve made a few changes :)

On a side note, I know this is a photography blog. But as you know me, my photos, my business and my life is one thing. I can not separate the one from the other. I hope that you will understand and if you’re only here for the photos, hop on to the next or previous post. But for those of you who want to be challenged and inspired, read this.