If you’ve been around this blog enough to see my personal work, you know that being in tune with your heritage and culture is a big part of my life. It is an intangible heirloom of sorts, a legacy, that I learned from my grandparents, Humberto + Sara Flores, parents, and my tías and tíos. While it has morphed into our family’s own sort of awesome Mexican American micro-culture centered around Corpus Christi, Texas, I’m always up to experiencing it wherever I can find it.
Early this year, my mom started a traditional Mexican dance group with at-risk Hispanic youth in Goldsboro, Ballet Folklorico De Colores. These awesome kids, aged from preschool to high school, get the opportunity to embrace their heritage like my mom and I did. She passes along the lessons from her parents about being proud of who you are + where you came from, about having confidence about your abilities, and being able to tell the story of your people to others through dance. In Goldsboro, the Hispanic population has boomed, so it’s great to see what I know as “everyday life” in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and other parts of South Texas and the Southwest, making its way to North Carolina. De Colores is installing the confidence in these kids and allowing them to realize that they are strong, Hispanic youth with bright futures.
How do you connect with your culture when you’re not actively living it?
There is something magical about a wedding in a rose garden — something that is romantic, quaint, and intimate. This something was Elizabeth & Drake’s beautiful wedding. These two, unlike any other young couple I’ve seen, have a huge love for each other spurred by their love of God. They glow when they look at each other, they know how to have fun together, and most of all, they love and respect each other. Surrounding by their large and awesome families, they took each others hand in marriage without hesitation. They are such a super sweet couple, who took their wedding day and made it so very personal to them. One of their first dates as students at N. C. State, was at the Raleigh Little Theatre Rose Garden and Drake’s love of aviation drew them to RDU’s General Aviation Terminal for their wedding locations. These two brought their excited families & friends together to celebrate their love in such a gracious and Christian way! Their personal touches to the ceremony and the reception were unbelievable and radiated the love that Elizabeth + Drake have for each other! Oh, happy day, these two are married and it was an absolute perfect day! 
When Camille’s fiancé, a fellow co-worker and best SRO ever (I’m afraid what he’d do to me if I didn’t throw that in there, haha!), contacted me about photos, I was happily surprised to find out that they were in the midst of blending two families full of kids together! They decided they wanted to do separate portrait sessions before one big family portrait session, so on a beautiful and sunny day at the end of June, I met Camille and her four kids, twins, Charles & Chandler, Celsey, and Peyton at the West Point at the Eno park in north Durham. These kids are awesome! Celsey & Peyton were so smiley and bright, telling me about what they love at school and about their sports, gymnastics and baseball, respectively. Celsey even stole my heart with her glittery mustache earrings! Charles & Chandler are die-hard baseball players, traveling all over the state to play a good game of one of America’s favorite past times. These two, while similar, had two completely different favorite ball fields where they’ve played before: Charles loved playing in Charlotte while Chandler’s was Wilson. And of course, like any great travel ball players, they’ve played at good ol’ ECAP down the street from my old stomping grounds in Goldsboro!
viedfinder 
