One Amazing Friday the 13th

Anyone that knows me knows my fear of the water. I have always wanted to know how to swim, but the moment I can't feel my feet on the bottom and I don't have my hand on the edge, I panic! And apparently panicking is how people drown.

About a month ago, I went to the beach for the very first time, and I had the time of my life. My biggest fear was that a wave was going to pull me in and I was going to die. I wanted to ride the jet ski sooooooo badly, but I was told I shouldn't just incase I fell off and panicked. So, I was sad, but I was determined to come home and take lessons. Well, one week in, this girl conquered her fear of the water. It seems SOOO small to people who can swim, but the older you get, the harder it is in release that fear of the water. 

This morning, I did three laps and I was excited. It made my whole day amazing. Then my mother was proud and she hates the thought of me being in more water than I can drink; so she didn't like the ideas of lessons. But the smile on my face made all of her prayers worth it. 

Then I had a couple of meets and I thank God for the people he brings into my life. My agent was so proud of me for working toward my dreams. I get down on myself because I feel like I should be further in my career and my dreams, but I had to realize I am only 24 years old and have been working on my dreams for three and a half years. 

Today I have the biggest smile on my face knowing I have checked off another thing off my bucket list. Now it's time for a mini vacation back to the beach lol. 

Happy Friday! 

Beautiful As I Am

A few weeks ago,  I was talking to a young lady who was one of the most beautiful young ladies that I had ever seen and had a  beautiful heart to back it up. But deep down inside, she hated herself.  My job allows me to see insecurities that a lot of people are able to hide from the world. We post pictures and status about the things that we want people to see, but rarely do we show the "other" side of ourselves. We post the best picture out of 45 pictures taken, only after we have placed a filter or two on it.  

It bothered me that she wanted to look as perfect and flawless as the girls in the magazines, while she was naturally beautiful just as she was. I wish I could show young ladies the before and after pictures in magazine. Retouching power is amazing. This is what motivated my Beautiful As I Am Campaign. As a woman,who has scars and a curvy physique, I have often times dreamed of being someone else. I wanted to be skinner and prettier, taller and have longer hair, but I finally grew to love the skin that I'm in. I'm beautiful just as I am! 

After spending time with some beautiful young ladies, I realized it's time for me to make some beautiful ladies feel beautiful! This is where I need YOUR help. Send me a short bio with a picture of an amazing, beautiful young lady that you know that needs that pick-me-up or confidence builder. 

And don't forget… YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! 

Email:  Brittany@FigaroPhotography.com
(Shreveport/ Bossier Area: Studio is located in Bossier City)

Website: www.figarophotography.com

Sunsets

Fun fact about me: I'm a sky junkie. I love sunsets, clouds, and all of God's amazing artwork 

Suit & Tie: The Gentleman Experience

Today was a learning experience!

1) I LOVE the look of a Suit and Tie
2) Men don't like to smile, although they have beautiful teeth
3) Men will NEVER say they like a picture, unlike a woman who will LOVE a picture LOL
4) Men work faster than woman
5) Watching a man's facial expression is NO HELP if they like a picture
6) Men will give you "THE LOOK" if the pose looks questionable. :)


I can't wait to finish this series.

Good Night Tears

As I close my day, I remember the days when I was younger and having a lot of teary nights. Nights when my pillow absorbed the pain, hurt, and troubles of the day. Tears from problems with boyfriends, best friends, mean friends, parents, life, and school. There were also tears of joy and happiness. I guess you can call me a cry baby, but tears are the words we cant say. My pillows has been there through a lot of life's good and bad moments. 

As I write this, a tear rolls down my cheek and I look back over my life. I'm blessed. Sometimes we just need to stop and appreciate the things we do have. 

Keep smiling. Keep dreaming. Keep living. Keep loving. 

XOXO 

Racism: Does Color Matter?

After seeing this picture on IG I had to post about this. 

We honestly aren't born racist, it's something society has taught us. 

This is a touchy subject for me, because I would date someone of another race although my parents wouldn't approve. I have never seen color. I was the child that played with everyone. I have always had a white best friend. You probably could have caught me carrying a rebel with my friends. Not even thinking of the separation, just another flag. 

My defense has always been "It doesn't matter what color you are as long as your blood was red!" I love that song because of that line. Color just isn't something that I see. I remember on the playground at Herndon on day, we were like do you taste like vanilla and I taste like chocolate. That didn't stop us from making friends.

 

My mother often says that I don't understand why they still have an issue with something. I can stay that I don't understand. My grandparents are the ones that had to sit on the back of the bus, go into building through the back door, drink out of the blacks only water fountain, or deal with segregation. They fought so that I didn't have too. I appreciate them for that. 

I'm simply appreciating what they did for me. I will continue to love my friends of another race and I pray that they will return the love. 

Love sees no color! 

XOXO 

My Story

Sixteen years ago this year, my world changed. I begged Daddy to let me ride the bus home from school because I didn't want to stay for basketball practice. He told me no, but I kept asking, and he finally said yes. Who knew that less than ten minutes later, my bus would wreck. The AMAZING Herndon Magnet School family showed up and supported me. I will never forget the love that I was shown. That same morning, Dad told me to get my glasses and I forgot. I knew he was going to fuss at me, but thank God I didn't have them on that day. With the cuts on my face already close to my eye, I don't want to think about what could have happened if I had my glasses on. Surgery after surgery, I wanted mom to cover the bathroom mirrors so that I didn't have to see myself. I didn't like what I saw in the mirror but the looks that I would get from adult when I went out made it even worst.
But fast forward to now, I have an amazing story to tell. I know that God is able to do what He says He will do. Thank God I made it.

Beauty is not Defined by the Number on the Scale

This picture pulled something in my heart. I have so many of my youth at church who believe that the number on the scale matters for than anything. It's about the heart and your character. Yes, we want healthy lives, but it kills me when my girls compare themselves to people in a magazine or the girl with all the guys.

Healthy and happy are more important than the number on the scale. This is another reason why my Beautiful As I Am Project is special to me. From my weight to scars, I never felt beautiful, until now, and I refuse to let the girls in my life feel like that. We have to change the people closest to us in order to start changing the world.

One girl at a time.

XOXOXO

The Beautiful Side of Business

With an industry, like photography, there are so many people in the area that is working to perfect their craft. So many people come into photography saying "Hey, it's its easy, quick, and you can make quick money." I wish that was true, but just like everything else, you have to put money in to get money out.

With that being said, I have some of the best clients a photographer could ask for. With the number of photographers around town, anybody could try every photographer and still have a few left over. So I appreciate when my clients return and pass my cards on.

Another beautiful moment is when a child knows you. I was shooting on the 4th of July, and my little McKenna said "Brittany." It just made my heart melt.  The simple things make me happy!

Through the ups and downs of a business, the support of family, friends, and clients are greatly needed and appreciated.

Young Mothers

I was in a debate with some seasoned women about my generation and raising kids. They felt like my generation is a generation who aborts children, because we don't accept the consequences of our actions. So I brought up the issue of struggling to raise a child. Would they prefer that they put the child up for adoption? I can't quote statics on the abortion rate, adoptions, or struggling single mothers. I wish that my generation did take responsibly for their actions. I believe that my generations is quick to pass their child(ren) on to their mother or grandmothers. It's time to stay home and raise your child(ren). 

This lead to the following question.

If you were pregnant and had no way to support the unborn child, would you abort the child, place the child up for adoption, or struggle to provide for the child?

Beautiful As I Am

After talking to a few young ladies, I realized I wasn't the only one dealing with finding beauty within themselves. Although mine came from outward scars, many of the young ladies I spoke with had inner scars. This is what started my Beautiful As I Am Photography Project. I'm sure how big this project will become, but I'm praying that it will be a blessing to some amazing young ladies.

My Heart

I gave it to some people with the expectations of them not breaking it. At least let me know if you don't want it. It's been patched a few times too many for my liking. But here is what I have left. I have a piece that will make you my number two, because God is my number one. Here is a piece to let you know that I will support you in your hopes and dreams. Here is piece to love you, to care for you, and to be there for you. Oh, I found another piece, this piece is barely hanging on. It's trust. I realize that I can't be bitter from a past hurt, nor can I blame you for that. So here is that piece. But I want you to know that this little piece has so much power. Oops, I found another piece that was connected to trust. Communication. I found out a long time ago that no communication equals no relationship. There is a little hole right here. This hole is the piece I had to let go. I heard that there are people out there who have holes in their heart and they are still alive. This little hole is where this tiny piece called fear use to be. So here you go, the pieces of my heart. Remember if you don't want it, just let me know.

Picture This

It's been a while since I have blogged. So I wanted to try out this app and on iPhone and see how everything looks. I'm posting a picture of a fries macaroni ball. It was so delicious.

RIP Steve Jobs. I wouldn't have my iPhone or MacBook pro without him.
Have a great night.

Scars

Scars remind us where we’ve been. They don’t have to dictate where we’re going!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures. As I was having one of my many bathroom-photoshoots last night, I took a picture of my scars. Not necessarily to see them, but to play with angles and to see how the light hit my face. Once I was reviewing the pictures on the computer, emotions hit me. My scars show me where I have been, and I thank God I’m not where I was.

Surgery after surgery to remove/make the scars less visible only remind me of where I have been. I think back to December 16, 1998, and I smile because God allowed me to make it through that day. A little beat up and a little bruised, but still here to smile. So often I want to change things about myself. I want my scars to be gone or have liposuction of the cheeks, stomach, and thighs or cut off my big toe so that I can wear a size 11 shoes instead of 12 since most stores stop at 11. Craziness, I know but it runs through my head at times. Sometimes we just want to have a HUGE pity party, and we don’t want anyone to rain on our party. You may say, “You’re pretty to me,” but I’ll say, “That’s only to you.” Anything you say, I’ll have a comeback for you.
Small things tend to hold me back, and I had to change that quickly. Am I not going to explore the USA because I might have a flat tire? Heck No. That is why you have God and Triple A. Am I not going to fly on plane, because it might crash? Heck No. That’s why my mom and dad taught me how to pray and TRUST God. Plus if I know, I know I’m going to Heaven. Am I not going to learn how to swim because I might drown? Heck No. That’s why there are lifeguards and prayer. Plus everyone told me fat floats. ☺

My scars can’t hold me back any longer. I must enjoy my life. Life is too short, and we all know it. It is up to YOU to do something about it. Don't regret your past and worry about your future. Be happy that God gave you a chance to live and enjoy the present. I know I am. My scars are beautiful! You may not like them, but that is why they are on me and not on you. I can handle them.

These pictures are from my last surgery to make my scars less visible. It was a failure!! After the stitches came off, they began to keloid. This caused me to have to get steroid injections in my face to make them go down.

Pre Surgery

Date is wrong. I want to say June of 2006

Post Surgery

(With the DREAD Figaro Lip! Can I lipo that off too JK)

Today

Still there, but beautifully made by God.

Turn Around.... Or Keep Going?

Riding to church this morning, a train passed me and I began to think. I have always called my weight loss a journey. When this train passed me, I said I want to take a train ride somewhere, anywhere. In North Louisiana, we don’t have any trains that I know of. So I have never seen a train that people board to take from one location to another. It’s normally a train that is carrying materials. So I added to my bucket list, to ride a train.

I took this train ride to another level though.

It’s a journey. It’s a journey that is often not thought of when you are in a rush. It’s SLOW! And this is what clicked in my head and my heart. Anyone who is trying to lose weight knows that it is a slow process. A process that if you continue on It, you will get to be where you want to be.

This past Month when I hit my plateau, it was one of the hardest parts of this journey that I have experienced thus far. Week after week, I worked out, watched what I ate, and the scale seemed to be stuck. I wanted to hop off this train, rent a car, and drive home.

I didn’t care how far I had come.

I didn’t care how hard I had worked.

I didn’t care how much gas I had wasted to the gym and the track.

I didn’t care about how many hours I had wasted working out.

I didn’t care how many calories I had counted.

I didn’t care about anyone who had helped me this far.

I didn’t care about anything.

I was hurt.

I was sad.

I just wanted to quit, get off the train and go home!

What kept me on this train was seeing the people that responded to my journey thus far.

It gave me hope.

It have me courage.

It gave me joy.

I have a deep passion for helping people. So I sat down on this train, going as slow as it was. I pulled out my camera, and I enjoyed the ride.

This journey is not over. I can’t tell you how much longer I will be riding on this train. All I know is that, this journey is changing my life. I’m learning about myself, I’m meeting people, I’m helping people, and I’m smiling bigger.

I can look back as much as I want, but I can’t go back now. After breaking my plateau, the tears fell down my eyes. As I think about how badly I wanted to quit, I smile even bigger knowing that I didn’t end this journey.

Looking Beyond the Scale

Day after day I step on Wii Fit hoping to see that my BMI has gone down just .2 to make my day. But what do you do when you step on the scale, just to see that the number has not moved, or has gone up .2. IT HURTS. It’s a reminder that you still have this weight on you and that it is time to work harder.

Starting my weight loss journey was not easy. We all want to lose weight fast although we gained it slowly. It seems like a basic concept, but actually it is so hard to process. I started my weight lost in August of 2010. It hasn’t been easy, nor will it get easier. For my 21^st birthday my best friend bought me Wii Fit Plus. It was something that I had been wanting for a while. I went back to my apartment, ripped it open, put it in my Wii, and turned on the board. I had heard all the hype about the new games and I was ready to play them. I stepped on the Wii board, and it said, “Your weight has exceed the maximum weight.” It then gives you the option to reboot. I think I reboot five times hoping that it was wrong. Nothing changed. So I put my balance board under my bed, I sat on the floor and cried. I think my roommate came to my door to get something; she heard me crying and told me to open the door. I couldn’t I had to get all out right then and right there.

My breakdown didn’t change anything though. I “said” that I wanted to lose weight but I didn’t do anything different but run up the stairs to my apartment. I thought that should help a whole lot since I lived on the 3^rd floor of an apartment building with no elevator. Still, nothing changed.

The summer came and I had made up in my mind that “The Time was now.” That was our young adult motto for 2010, so I applied it to my life. Summer was here, I wasn’t going to have beach ready body, but I had to start working on it. Summer school was here, and the only thing I had to do was go to a 3-hour class, do homework, and workout. Sounds easy. But it wasn’t. I work up 7 to go to the gym, by myself, and I hated it. My iPod didn’t help, talking to myself didn’t help, and looking at hot guys didn’t help. I needed a person to motivate me, but I didn’t get what I wanted. I had to push myself.

After the whole summer of working out, STILL NO CHANGE. So I’m going to the gym, working out, sweating, but the scales look EXACTLY the same as the beginning of the summer. I had started to workout, but I didn’t change my eating habits. I was always a person who was up for a diet, but I know that with a diet, I would be off of it soon.

School started, and my best friend said she going to start going to the gym with me. I didn’t believe it cause she had said it before, but it never happened. She was little and I didn’t think she needed to be the one going with me to gym. I need a big girl so we can work hard and push each other. I was wrong. She pushed me, and I pushed her. Everyday at 9 am, we were in the gym. Change started to come as I was working out harder and eating better. My final semester at NSU was a little sad because I was leaving my friends. I was so glad that I got to see my best friend everyday though, we got closer and met new people as we went to the gym everyday.

I love how people start to become friendly after they have seen your face a few time. We had hit VIP status at the gym. Everyone knew our names or our faces, so it made it fun to go. Talking to everyone and learning about people is what I love to.

Talking with a friend of mine, he told me I should do P90X. I was scared of it because I had seen too many of my friends on Twitter talking about it. He told me he didn’t want me to have surgery and I needed to get the weight off the old fashion way. So he gave me the DVDs and I tired it. It would not have made 90 days of working out if it wasn’t for my BeachBody Coach pushing me, my friends on Twitter not letting me quit, and praying that I would make it. There were days that I cried, days that I said I was going to quit, but I never did.

Day 90. Ninety days had passed. I had graduated from NSU the day before day 90. One chapter of my life was complete. Now a new chapter has to start. Fifty pounds lost, and I was feeling better. Two dresses down, and I was feeling better. None of this helped, because I still didn’t like the way I looked. I am still “fluffy,” and I still have a lot more weight to lose. I was a little smaller, but in my head, it felt like I had only lost 10 lbs. on a journey to lose 5000.

I went to get on the scale at the gym, on day, and there was a post-it note that said, “The number on scale doesn’t mean anything, you are beautiful- Operation Beautiful.” So being the Googler that I am, I went to Google Operation Beautiful and I loved it. They simply left post-it notes on mirrors or scales, to tell women they are beautiful no matter what. This was a something that I could do, and I loved. I carried a pack of post-it notes in my purse and started to leave them around. It had to take the advice that I was leaving on mirrors everywhere. I had to look at the real Brittany. I was beautiful no matter what size I was.

As ladies, we tend to worry too much about our weight. Yes, being healthy is VERY important, but it is a process that takes times. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We want to see results the first day we workout and it wont happen most of the time. It’s a lifestyle change, and it is something that we are going to have to do for the rest of our lives. So get ready to workout for life. Have fun with it and enjoy it. There are so many things you can do just to get moving. If you have not tried Zumba, try it, its fun. Look beyond the scaled and know that you are beautiful.

More than Pain... Inspiration

After a recent twitter episode, I felt that I had to come with another from my heart blog. As a fluffy girl since my younger days, I have come to be content with my size. Within the last six months, I had made up in my mind that I was going to change something that I had been wanting to do, but never did.
So, I hit the gym, found a great workout partner despite the fact that she was almost half of me. After going to the gym and seeing that I COULD actually do half of the machines in the gym, I gained the confidence that I needed to keep going. I had been going to the gym for about three months when I was talking to my friend about getting surgery. I knew the cost of getting LapBand was $30,000 plus, but I knew that if I were to get it, it would make me happy. Never did I want to think about the issues and the side effects that I could have from it. Never did I think about the fact that I may still be unhappy with myself, if I get this surgery. I just knew that I wanted to be small and I wanted to get there the easiest way possible.
While talking to one of my guy friends, he told me not to do it my way and he would be upset if I did. He said I needed to put in the hard work to see the change that I wanted to see. I didn’t want to hear this but I listened. I had heard about P90X all during the summer on Twitter. I knew in my mind I couldn’t do it because all of my physically fit friends were doing it. So I was opposed to it at first but after about two hours of talking, he said I have the DVDs I will bring them to you. No more excuses. With all of my excuse out of the door I couldn’t do anything but try. Day one, I made it. Day two, It pulled me down, Day three I made it, Day four I cried cause I was too big to make it through the whole yoga DVD. Day Five I made it and I knew that I could do it. After these five days, I said I have no excuses at all. I was still doing the gym in the morning and P90X in the evening. No one could have ever told me that Brittany Figaro would EVER do two-a-days. But I made it. Through it all I knocked 50lbs off.
With the 50 off of me, There was a light shining in me. I finally felt beautiful. I have always said there is difference between cute and beautiful. Your outfit may be cute but you are beautiful. I had always been told that I was beautiful because I had a beautiful personally, but now I felt beautiful to myself. I went from not caring how I looked at all to waking up and putting forth effort in how I looked. Behind the weight and behind the scars was a person that many people did not get to see. My doctors told me from the age of 8 that I needed to wear makeup to cover up my scars. I never wanted to wear make-up for that reason. I felt that if you loved me, you should love me the way that I am. Now that I feel beautiful, its just make-up. I have a long long long way to go, but now, I feel like I can do anything that I put my mind to.
After being called Ugly and Precious on Twitter… It hit a new nerve in me. I guess it gave me my second wind, even though it brought a lot of tears. Im not where I want to be, but I know I can get where I want to be.

13 years later...

I had to write today. Too much on my mind and too many tears in my eyes. I look back at my life and I smile. I cry. I dream. I believe. I hope. And I thank God. People always say that life is tough and I would have to agree, but there is one thing that I learned at a very young age. Church became my life because it realized that I could have been dead. Maybe even I should have been dead, but God kept me. I live my life for me. I always pray that people will see the God in me.
After talking to my father today, He kept saying that God is good. I feel that at times he thinks that it was his fault that I was in that wreak. I know that it wasn’t. I know that it was God’s doing because he knew that I could handle it.

Let me recap December 16, 1997.
It was basketball season and daddy was coaching. I was tired and didn’t want to wait on daddy to have practice and then go home. I begged daddy to let me ride the bus and he told me no. I keep asking and he said no. I asked one more time and he said fine, he was going to call my mom and I could go. I ran to bus 434 and got on. I sat in the middle next to window. We drove Gamm rd and then turned onto Reed Rd. Coming to the end of the read our bus didn’t stop it went across the street and it flipped over. I must have blacked out cause when I woke up I was laying against the floor of the bus. I never knew my face was bleeding. I remember seeing Sarah. She was younger than me and I had to make sure she got off the bus safe. Jamar tried to open the back door. I think he kicked it and broke his foot I think. We were instructed to climb out of the windshield of the bus. I remember stepping off and they laid me on the stretcher. By this time, my daddy was there. Looking over me and holding my hand. I was told that I had to be airlifted to the LSU. Sarah and I were on the same plane and I remember looking at her and it looked like her eye was out of the socket. I kept asking her if she was okay and she said yes. Once in Shreveport we landed on top LSU and I will never forget being rushed in the little red door on top of the hospital. Surgery number one took place and I was able to see my parents. At that time mom was taking classes to do taxes at H&R Block. I asked her if she was going to go to class and she told me no I would never leave you. I woke up from surgery number one and I will never forget getting a small coke and a two pop cycles. I was ready for another surgery if I was going to wake up to that again. Then they took me back for another one. Daddy said he was watching the door they told him that the surgery was suppose to take 30 minutes and it took about 2 hrs. He said he was watching the door every time a foot print came to the door. Finally they came out and said that my eye was okay. What a relief. One thing that matter to me so much was that they cut my sweatshirt off. That morning me and mama had fought about the sweatshirt that I wore that. She told me that I had to wear that UGLY shirt and I didn’t want to. Then on the way to school I realized I didn’t have my glasses. Daddy fussed at me the whole way to school. If I would have had my glasses on, then I most likely wouldn’t have my left eye right now. Needless to say, I never wore that sweatshirt ever again ☺. That day led to many more surgeries and many more tough times.

There were days that Mom would have to cover up the mirror or leave the light off so that I wouldn’t like to see my face. Going to Wal-Mart was even harder. Grown people would stare me down and children were even worst. It would try to wear my hair down so I could it would cover my face but it was still seen.

Going through the different chapters of my life that I have lived so far has left an impact on the remaining chapters of my life. Now I can say I think God for taking care of me every step of the way. At age 8 I didn’t know who was taking care of me or what was talking care of me but now I know. From the prayers of my mother, father, church members, Herndon family, and friends. I made it!

Beautiful scars and all

Life... What's Next?

So, I have come to end of the road, and the end of chapter 5 in my book if life. Im sitting here wondering whats next and how everything will play out. RIght now, I want to hit the fast forward button on life to see what my future holds, but then I know if i peep, I will want to change something. Is there a BIG money job waiting on me, is my hubby waiting on me, is my house waiting on me, is my photography going to get bigger or not, or am I going to relocate even though I don't want to. There are so many things that are running through my mind, but I am just trusting God and leaving it in his hands. He got this.

So, sitting her looking at graduate on Friday, its like wow! I made it. It be tough. There have been many tears. There have been many hours of studying. There have been many cramming sessions. There have been many papers lost, computer acting stupid, and test that I got locked out of. But through it all I made it. I went to school with intention to finish it and dont go down playing. Taking 21 hours was never in my plan but I made it. Four semesters of 21 hours and full summer, made me wonder why I was rushing through school. Now i see that it was all worth it. With my parents paying for my college, there was no time to play. I will never forget I got my first C in Psychology and Daddy holler and yelled at me for about two days that weekend. Then mom told him that, this is college. She did wonderful in school but college is another thing. College is not for everyone. Grad school is not for everything. Word of advice... if you dont like high school go get a trade and make some money doing what you like. College is too expensive to play with.

Looking back on my life now, I have to say that I am proud of where I am now. Church has me grounded. Friends have my back. Family is my support. Joy is in me. Love is my heart. God is walking with me. Life is good!

My p90x Journey

Recently, I have heard a lot of talk about this program called