Chris Standi Lifestyle

LIFESTYLE

VOLUME 1

16/17 Y

GENERATION

ALMOST GROWN

GOOD PHOTOGRAPH THE FORMULA

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

SIBLINGS UNITE FOR SUCCESS

BELLY

BUSTERS POWER FOODS

THAT WORK

VANESSA

POWELL

HOW I LOST IT

WITHOUT LOSING IT

You are who you Say you are When a negative thought enter the mind it shows through with our outward expressions. During a photo shoot, letting go of the stress of life and any inhibition of the past will guarantee a relaxed and positive beautiful outcome of your captured image.

CHRIS STANDI LIFESTYLE things i LIKE, PEOPLE i KNOW, STORIES THAT WILL INSPIRE

Being a photographer has allowed me to meet some interesting people. In the process of directing a shoot I find out a lot about a person’s background.

Some of the stories that are told are mind blowing and inspiring at the same time. When you look through the pages of this magazine you will find inspiration that will give you hope and will help you see the light at the

end of the tunnel. It is my hope that you take a part of what I am about and gain a stronger sense of confidence and self esteem. We all can feel important in our own lives and with sharing that importance into someone else’s life it can bring about change for the better.

You never know who you are going to help. God put people in our live’s for a reason. I be-

lieve we should embrace every part of that experience for our growth. We can learn from the negative experiences and from that pour one hundred percent into the positive for an explosive result. Confidence in ourself is the end result. Chris Standi Life-style will be an overall learning experience. To God Be The Glory!

vanessa powell

All in the family

GOOD PHOTOGRAPH

The power of not settling.

A journey to weight lost, self awareness, Love, Beauty, and Soul.

Sister and brother team Kyla and Treyvon teen photo shoot. Two talented teens that are on their way to doing great things. Oh, did I mention very manner able.

The formula behind the camera.

When I photograph someone it’s not the outer beauty that is captured, it’s the inner beauty that is reflected.

almost grown 16 years old is the stage where kids think they are wiser than the ones that birthed them. My son Ben and I conversations almost always end, “You’re not grown yet!” So we did a Grown-up Shoot.

Fight the bulge Knowing what foods to eat to boost your metabolism can help on the war of obesity

bOOK CLUB Arizona women authors. God speaks to some to share their words to others through the pages of a book.

You will be inspired and touched spritually.

Keeping It In

Fun shoot with brother and

S

ince the age of 6 Travon has entertained with his

unique dancing ability inspired by the late and great Michael Jackson. He has since then also took an interest in singing and modeling as well. Travon won first place in his school talent show in 2012. He has also competed in statewide competitions for singing and dancing. On his spare time he enjoys karaoke at a local restraurant in which the crowd knows him by name. Travon hopes to one day be an aspiring actor.

n The Family

nd sister act travon and kyla

S

ince the age of 3 Kyla has been singing and danc-

ing. She writes songs and poetry and loves to act. Kyla won 1st place in her school talent show in 2010 for singing and 1st place in her school talent show in 2012 for dancing. She has also written and published her first book by the age of 11. She plays the saxophone as well as the piano and writes her own music. She also loves to rap. She hopes to one day be a singer, songwriter, choreographer and model.

BOOK

aRIZONA ‘S WOMEN MINiSTERS WHO GOT THE CALLING TO

This book lets the single Christian woman know that they are not alone in their struggles. Some have fallen into the trap of getting hooked up with the wrong man. It’s thirteen intriguing chapters, over 300 pages about different women and what they faced when they got off track.

Each story has a twist to it. It keeps you on edge and you don’t want to put the book down because you want to know the end results of what happened to each woman. This book is great for club discussions, singles night, and women’s group.

Minister Sheree Carradine

I accepted Christ into my life at the age of 19.

In August 1979 I came to Arizona for a two week vacation. While there I met a military man, we dated, and got married in May 1980. I never moved back to California, in fact I still reside in Arizona.

Talk about a long vacation.

December 25, 1982 our son was born. In 1993 my husband and I separated.

By February 1995 our marriage ended in a bitter divorce. After the divorce, I learned what it was like to be a Single Christian Woman.

In May 2001, I married a second time. By this time I thought I had it all together and had finally met Mr. Right. He presented himself as a Christian man and I fell right into the trap. That marriage also ended in divorce in 2006.

People started to voice their opinions about my two failed marriages. I found myself being ridiculed like Job in the Bible. I was being blamed for something they knew absolutely nothing about. Let

To reach the author for speaking engagementsshereecarradine@yahoo.com For free excerptshttp://www.e-junkie.com/ THEJOYANDTHEPAIN/product/479330.php

us take heed to what it says in Job 2:10, “Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant”.

There were even comments made suggesting that I should give up on relationships. My shame made me want to hide. God spoke to me and made me realize that we all have issues, so no one should sit in judgment of me. Ecc.7:20 Believe it or not, it could happen to you.

Whether it’s by separation, divorce, or death of a spouse, you could become a single Christian Woman.

LET’S PRAY FOR THE SINGLE CHRISTIAN WOMEN. For more information ordering book or contacting MInister Sheree Caradine http://www.personalizeitsc.com/

CLUB

NOT ONLY PREACH THE good WORD BUT TO draft IT

Pastor Mary Barreras I am a: Wife, Mother and child of the most High God, and a friend of God. I travel, teach seminars, preach in revivals, conferences, retreats. I worked with Youth enrichments programs, I co-pastor with my husband, we work with people coming out of addictions. We have worked in the mission field in Russia, Croatia, & Romania and now pastor in Tucson, AZ. I love life, I love being a wife, I love my husband and children, I love being a mother,I love hugs, I love people.I love to hear children laugh, I love looking at the stars, I like a good joke, I love the smell of puppies, I love to sing, I love my house full of people having a good time. I like to make people smile.

I like it when people are kind.I like camping out, sleeping under the stars, I like to fish, cook, bake, I like to travel, I love reading the Word of God and sharing the Word of God in ministry and in song.

My brother had just died with brain cancer January 11th, 2009, I had been traveling back and forth from Tucson AZ to Wichita Kansas to take care of him during his sickness, when I can home 3 more people who I loved passed away. I was tired mentally, emotionally, and physically. I felt like I had been shipwrecked. One day while running errands, I realized that one of my daughters would be graduating from high school in two weeks and I had not order her cap and gown, I had nothing prepared for her special event. I went to my doctor the next day and he told me, Mary “Take care of the Difficult today and leave the Impossible for Tomorrow.� A week later I had a dream of a book with that quote as the title and I knew God was telling me to write a book about taking care of difficult things but allowing Him to do the Impossible.

For information on ordering book or contacting Pastor Mary Barreras

fabulous l i f e Vanessa Powell FABULOUS ONCE

FABULOUS TWICE

FABULOUS AGAIN

W

O

the appearance of having

I

and letting go and letting God.

size models. It wasn’t until a

everything, you’re educated,

Today is the day to flip the

few months after that during

great personality, beautiful,

script. This is the time to own

our first photo shoot, when

and the list goes on. But,

your life and put yourself first.

the real Vanessa revealed

there’s this something that

This is not a selfish move;

herself. What a wonderful

is stopping you from having

this is a move to self-help. It

thing to feel good about your-

the ultimate life that you have

is taking a step to control-

self.

been wanting. The good

ling your health along with

that 100% of confidence will

news is you have complete

mind and spirit. Once you’ve

take you anywhere. What

control over it. Sometimes

reached peak performance

happens when that confi-

as women we are full blown

the outcome will be phenom-

dence is knocked down by

nurturers to others and put

enal. Now you are ready to

50%, 30%, or a mere ½%?

ourselves last. We try to

give your best to others at a

Doubt in one self is the en-

control the outcome of others

level of 100% accuracy.

emy’s tool to stop you in your

so that they can feel good and

track from achieving the goals

achieve their goals and for

that you have been trying to

some that is exhausting.

hen I first met Vaessa it

was for an open call for plus

I am a strong believer

achieve all of your life.

n the outside you have

magine not being the savior

On Location With Vanessa ‘‘I am beautiful. i love myself. god loves me.”

I saw in myself, but I wouldn’t stop there I would walk away and my thoughts would be full of ‘put-downs’. Feelings of inadequacy, self-hatred, guilt,

What made you decide to

shame, hopelessness, and the

lose the weight? What trig-

worst of that personal hell was

gered you?

the emptiness and loneliness I felt.

I can fondly remember the day I was sitting there on the

Just thinking back on that time

couch feeling sorry for myself.

right now it makes me sad

Weeping as I thought about

for that Vanessa. I am beyond

the countless hours I had

thankful that God allowed me

spent over the past two years

to get to that point in my life,

looking at myself in the mirror

because that was the day that

and criticizing every flaw that

I firmly decided to change my

continue page

photos by: Chris Standi

CAFE a La C’ART CAFE-BAKERY-CATERING

CAFE a La Cart in downtown Tucson was a comfortable cafe to photograph and speak with Vanessa Powell about her story.

Before our shoot we were greeted with a warm welcome from

the friendly staff. Afterwards we had some great ice coffee and a very inspiring, and life changing conversation.

The atmosphere here is like down home hospitality. Country Style!

BEFORE BEFORE

BEFORE

“The Holy Spirit showed me that I had to pull out some emotional roots”

life for the better. That was the day I decided to get real with myself and stop accepting excuses from myself. I knew that this time was going to be different because; I didn’t feel the need to tell everyone about my decision.

The Holy Spirit showed me that I had to pull out some emotional roots if I was going to be successful. I also had to start changing my prayer life, and not tomorrow. I had to make a commitment to start my change that day.

That moment, and I was scared.

What were the issues that made you gain the weight?

I had three children in four years. I suffered from post-partum depression, and in 2010, I lost my best-friend. She was also known as my Grand-Mother, but I called her my ‘Grammy-Gram’. That is enough to send anyone through some thangs. However, I choose to eat some thangs! I joke about it now, but in the moment I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone and I was waiting for the credits to run. I was just going through the motions. I went from business suits and walking into a Corporate setting every day, and all of a sudden I was searching for sweat pants and tennis shoes. My perfectly primped hair and flawless make up that I made happen daily warped into a ponytail, and bags under my eyes.

I was lost and didn’t know where to start. My heart was broken. My best-friend was gone never to return. My husband was at work, and advancing in his career. Everyone else was working and living life, and then there I was; struggling to just get out of my bed and care for my children. I could care less about working out, and eating right.

At any point of your weight lost journey was there any thoughts of giving up or mental discouragements that you couldn’t make it?

I was fighting mental discouragements from day one to today. The devil wants me to fail. The devil wanted me to keep speaking lifeless words into my life so that I would never feel confident enough to fight for my vision and my mission that God gave me. This was no different from the millions of other weight loss journey. The difference this time was my mental preparation and desperation for change.

What was your motivation, where did the strength come from to continue on?

I had to make sure that I kept

a lot of ‘get real’ moments

blend into the background more

myself motivated during this

with myself. I had to see my

than others.

transition. I would workout

faults as the Lord did so that

mentally before I would work

I would be in alignment to

We live in America where skinny

out physically. I had to wake up

receive my blessings. The

is the new everything! The won-

and go to the gym before my

Lord had allowed me to see

derful thing about America is that

husband left for work, and get

that there was more than a

it is a land full of mixed cultures/

back in time to make my son a

sexy body at the end of that

races/backgrounds and there are

hot breakfast and get him off

weight loss tunnel. There

more than enough men that love

to school, and the younger two

was going to be a renewed

a woman with some meat on her

didn’t dress themselves so I

spirit and relationship with

bones. I hate to see my women

would have to get them ready as

God. Not because I loss the

that have curves being persuaded

well.

weight, but because I dis-

to feel that they are not as beau-

covered the beauty of Gods

tiful and talented as the skinny

Knowing this I would prepare

promises, and its lack of

women.

everything the night before and

barriers.

I do have one concern, and that

I would get on my knees every night before bed asking God to

Now that the weight is

is the harsh views that America

increase my fruits of the spirit

gone are you a new person

places on appearances in general.

(love, joy, peace, forbearance,

or a renewed person?

Americans have allowed their blessings of wealth and access

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.).

I haven’t become a new

to all things make them cruel,

The day the Lord convicted me

person now that the weight

hateful, judgmental, ungrateful,

to change my ways he also told

is gone, but I am defiantly

and superficial towards our own

me that increasing the fruits of

a renewed woman! I feel

people. We have children taking

the spirit was the ‘secret’ to my

revived and confident! Do

their lives over their weight, sexu-

weight loss.

other people treat you dif-

ality, and personal identity.

ferently now that you are of Changing my prayer life was

a smaller size and what are

We have talented children that

the strength in my weight loss.

your views on how society

are suffocating their talents

I started to ask God to increase

treats plus size women

because they don’t ‘look’ like everyone else and are afraid of

my ability to love. To help me increase my self-control, and my

I am treated differently in

being rejected. When did Ameri-

faithfulness in his ability to help

some ways now that I have

ca; Land of the Free and home of

me with all things that are done

lost the weight. Having lived

the brave, become such a hurtful,

for his good. I knew that praying

life as a plus sized woman,

condescending, greedy creed of

for these things were going to

and an average sized woman

people? This was a land built on

be my key to success. I started to

I can say that the world is

God and his promises that is why

realize that my weight gain was a

nicer to smaller shapes. I

we flourished over other coun-

result of my direct disobedience

wouldn’t say that I was ever

tries. Now we are killing our own

of the fruits of the spirit.

treated horribly as a plus

people from the inside out.

sized woman, but you do I had a lot of repenting to do, and

tend to see that you tend to

What are your nutritional goals

from this day forward?

My nutritional goals are to stay focused day by day, meal by meal, and if I mess up I will never again allow myself to use it as an excuse to continue messing up.

What would you say(words of encouragement to a woman of any age that is struggling with weight lost?

To all my women out there struggling with your weight loss, I ask that you all get up from this article look in the mirror naked and repeat after me…

I

am beautiful. I love myIself. God loves me. I

am not the body I am looking at, but I am the spiritual woman that lies behind this. I will no longer allow myself to feel like my body isn’t good enough. As of today I will only compliment my body, even when it doesn’t feel like I should. I will not speak lifeless words into my life or my body.

I love my body, and now I will embark on a journey to mold my body into the form it was intended to be.

If you could sum up in one word how you feel, what would that word be?

BLESSED

Super Foods for Boosting Metabolism

The best way of maintaining a healthy weight is to get up and moving. So that the moving around will not be in vain we have to pay attention with what we put into our bodies.

Let’s get informed with the best and efficient way of living a long and healthy life. By doing this I have found the internet and having healthy conscious people in my social groups.

Cinnamon -This delicious spice slows the passage of food through your stomach. It also

FOR HELP WITH HEALTH

lowers your blood sugar levels

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

by stimulating glucose metabo-

REFERENCE TO Dr. OZ

lism. Pork tenderloin is great

www.doctoroz.com

seasoned with cinnamon. You can also sprinkle this spice in your oatmeal, stews or coffee.

Chili Peppers-Capsaicin, the compound that gives these spicy peppers their zing, also curbs your appetite while you eat. Not only that, it raises your body temperature, which may boost your metabolism. Add some chili sauce to your next omelet or burger and see for yourself.

Avocados -Trim your tummy by packing your grocery cart with monounsaturated fats, easily

Vinegar-Vinegar will slow the

remembered as MUFAS. Found

absorption of carbohydrates and

in nuts, olive oil and seeds,

prevents sudden surges in your

MUFAS are healthy sources of

blood sugar. It also slows the

energy to keep you going all day

passage of food through your

long. Other fat burners include

stomach, keeping you fuller for

avocados, green tea and whole

longer. Add some zest to pasta

grains.

or potatoes with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.

GOOD photographs

There are a lot of photographers is this world with all types of backgrounds and talents. Some are self-taught and some tread through the many hours of classroom gander. This means there is enough photographers to fit the mold of his/her client needs.

So, what makes a good photographer? Is it the ability to produce beautiful photographs? I believe a GOOD photographer has the ability not only to produce a beautiful photograph but to affect the client in such a way that when their session is over their whole being is renewed. Wow, imagine showing up just to have your picture taken and afterwards your life change for the better. An image of ones ‘self is a reflection of who they are at the time of capture and in just 1/60 of a second or less is all it takes to capture a life change in thought. Our thoughts are the gateway to who we really are. If I think I am beautiful I become beautiful, if I think I can conquer I become a conqueror, It I think I can forgive I become forgiven of my past flaws. The list goes, on WE ARE WHAT WE THINK. When I am in the photographer’s seat I pay careful attention to the inner thoughts of my clients. When that moment in time presents itself in a positive thought I’m there to capture it. And it’s captured quick, literally with a blink of an eye. That’s an exciting feeling when confidence is capture quicker than one can realize and it’s frozen it time forever. That’s when the change happens. When a woman in her middle age tells me “I have never been able to take a beautiful picture until now “,

this is the result that happens when photographing the inner spirit of a person instead of the exterior mask that we sometime put on for public opinion.

I have search my inner self and asked the question what else is there for me to do. Well, I believe I got my answer and that is to BE MYSELF! That is freedom. Freedom that’s comes from God with the confidence in knowing that who you are is who he made you to be, and the flaws that one think they have is coming from a source other than. You may ask what does this have to do with photography and the answer is absolutely nothing. But it has everything to do with me who is a photographer and the results of my work that is the result of a God given talent.

My goal is to reach as many as I can through my craft of photography in spreading confidence so that it will be easier to squash that negative pass thoughts by looking at their photograph as in the now evidence of confidence regained. Phenomenal and Fabulous! Confidence, don’t live life without it!

Chris Standi

Almost grown

16/17 Sports

Basketball Football Track

Time off

Video Games Time with Girlfriend

Inspiration Family

Education Get serious and Total Focus

Hair -LaRon with Headliners

Ben Standifer

I

was raised to respect others and stand up for what I believe in. So why is it when I have a conversation with my mom and while exercising my voice of reasoning the result is amnesia on her part? I have a lot of respect and love for my mom and will not willing do anything to go against her. But understanding is in order when you raise a son to speak on what he truly believes in, while it is communicated in the highest of respect. So, the debate is what is truly almost grown? Is it almost right until I reach the age of 18? This is the question that goes through my 16 year old head. My dad on the other hand understands; maybe because we are geared the same way. That’s probably why my mom says I am his clone. I do have to give my mom most of the credit for my career choice of becoming a defense attorney, due to all the practice I have in defending my actions. When it looks like a son is starting to go in a different direction other than the way his parents has hoped for, look out because MOM court is in session.

Tip! Always learn from your mistakes and know that God will turn it into good.

Chris Standi