J+K=WOJ Series | Kristina|
HEY! I hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday! In this blog you will get to know Kristina a little better.
I went from being Kristina Aleksandrovna Khmyrova(HH-meh-rove-a) to Kristina A. Warner. I was born on March 17, 1989 (St. Patrick's day) in a small town called Kalach na Danu in the District of Volgograd, Russia.
Big cheeks & a smile.. yep! that's me! (Don't you just love looking at old b&w prints?)
Back when bassinets were the only kind of strollers. That balcony, above my mom's head, was our apartment.
Whoa-check out my dad's mustache!!!
When I was about 18 months old my parents decided to make the biggest decision of their lives. This decision was the hardest and the scariest thing they ever did but they knew it would lead to a very rewarding life, full of opportunities. My mom was 20 years old and my dad was 23. They gave up their citizenship & passports in order to possibly be eligible for a refugee visa. Then, they sold everything they had in order to purchase the plane tickets and have money for living expenses. We moved to America. They spoke no English, had one suitcase of clothes & necessities and only $400 in their pocket. But they did it. They did it for me. They did it for my future. They knew they didn't want me growing up the same way they did.
My parents insisted we only speak Russian at home so English was my 2nd language. My mom even made me take a Russian class to help me learn how to read & write in Russian. I remember whining every Saturday morning to my mom about not wanting to go to Russian class. But I sure am grateful my mom made me take that class now! I speak fluently in Russian with a slight accent. I can read in Russian, however, I'm probably at a 2nd grader reading level. Writing is the hardest aspect for me. The Russian language is pretty straight forward when it comes to sounding out the words but the grammar is very difficult.
You can barely see me, but that's me sitting on top of our very first car in America! My mom's first job was making donuts from scratch at Dunkin' Donuts and my dad worked construction.
When I was 5 years old, my parents and I were walking through the halls of Regency Square Mall, back when it was the ONLY mall in town, and Sessions Modeling had a booth and they stopped my parents and told them they should put me in modeling. After some deliberation, they signed me up. What girl wouldn't want to get all dolled up and take pictures all day?!? I loved it! My career was very short lived as a model, I stopped at the age of 9.
Thought I would share some images from my childhood modeling days.
Look at that hair! This is one of my favorites!
Strike a pose!
This shoot was especially fun. We were told to go through our moms' closet, pick out an outfit and then we dressed up in it! You can really see, but I'm wearing her heels too!
oh you know, just hanging out in my night gown… wow.. wish I could remember what they were advertising here!
High fashion.
YEAAAAH, I still can't take a picture without smiling. It's just awkward for me.
This was in Barnett Bank's magazine. The day before the shoot, my TWO front teeth fell out! They almost didn't use me for this shoot. They also didn't realize how small I was, so they had me sit on 4 phone books!
It would be awesome to say my love for photography started in my childhood. It didn't. Photography became a part of my life when I got my first camera phone. I think I was 15 years old. I was the one at every birthday party and every event just snapping pictures of everyone having a good time and then would spend an hour texting everyone the pictures. To me, pictures are memories. I love looking back at old photos, and even ones we took not too long ago, and just remembering where I was, who I was there with, what I did, what I saw, how I felt, and so many other memories come rushing to mind.
The struggle is real. This pops up a little too often!
I definitely would not be in photography if it wasn't for my husband. You'll have to wait for the blog in this series that will be called WOJ to find out the details of how I was introduced into the world of photography.
Some fun facts about me:
- Prior to photography, I have never worn all black as an outfit, except to a funeral. I don't know, I just thought it was weird. Now, it's my go to outfit even when I'm not going to a photoshoot.
- My radio station is either on 88.1 or 90.9 (christian stations). I'm not a good singer, like not at all. My drive to work and from work is basically the only time I'm in the car alone. I use this time to sing as loud as I can!
- I love to cook. I don't really enjoy the shopping for the groceries part but I do love to make fresh & healthy meals for dinner. I've been told my guacamole is the best in Jax, just saying. When I don't feel like cooking, my go to meal is cereal ( Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds cereal). My fast food choices are either Chick-fil-a or Chipotle.
- I do love me some coffee. I typically drink 3 cups a day. 2 hot cups in the morning (by 10 am) and my husband makes me an iced coffee at home at 3:00 pm. At Starbucks, I get a grande iced coffee with cream and sugar.
- I love to smile. I can't hold a straight face for long. Oh! and that smile is usually accompanied by a pretty loud laugh.
- I taught myself how to crochet. I used to crochet daily but I haven't picked up some yarn in over 3 months.
- I like to be positive and encouraging. I choose to see the good.
- I used to be addicted to Dr.Pepper. About 5 years ago, I quit cold turkey and now if I even drink a sip, I get an instant headache.
- I love to give personalized gifts. It's so hard for me to give someone a gift card. I like to put thought into gifts and tend to get carried away with ideas.
What's in my bag?!?
My Nine West black leather purse from TJ Maxx holds all my essentials which include: a 2017 planner from Target (I'd be lost without this thing), a classic Kate Spade wallet, some Victoria Secret perfume, a mirror that says "get it girl", business cards, my cell phone, floss, Ralph Lauren sunglasses, contacts (my vision is so bad that I carry an extra pair just in case), tweezers (my friend got me from Chinatown), nail clippers, hand sanitizer, Burt's Bees chapstick, Bobbie Brown lip crayon and a retractable measuring tape ( Yeah, that's a little weird but it has saved the day a few times!).
I thought a quick round of Would you Rather would be fun
Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early? 20 early! I can always use that time to return texts, emails, read or just browse social media.
Would you rather be completely invisible for one day or be able to fly for one day? FLY! I came pretty close when I went skydiving. Seeing the world from that angle is beautiful!
Would you rather be unable to use search engines or unable to use social media? Oh my! I gotta think about this one…. google is a close friend yet social media is a part of my job! ahh I choose unable to use social media! Google has too much valuable information to give up.
Would you rather give up bathing for a month or give up the internet for a month? As much as i love the internet, i would not give up bathing.
Would you rather never have to work again or never have to sleep again (you won’t feel tired or suffer negative health effects)? If i won't feel tired, I would definitely choose never sleep again. Think of all the things I would be able to do! During the day, I would spend time with my family. Once they went to bed, I would clean, read my bible, do laundry, go to the gym, work, learn something new, cook, watch my shows (Blindspot, Grey's Anatomy, Friends) blog, read, shop online and then I would go get groceries before they woke up.
Would you rather get one free round trip international plane ticket a year or be able to fly domestic anytime for free? Fly domestic- there are soooooo many beautiful places to visit in America. I've never been to any of the northern states or even central America! Plus, I would be able to just fly to NYC or San Diego for just a weekend!
Would you rather never be able to eat meat or never be able to eat vegetables? hmmmm, I would have to pick never eat meat. I just feel like if I didn't eat vegetables, my stomach would give me a hard time.
Would you rather give up watching TV / movies for a year or give up playing games for a year? i don't play games, so this one is easy.
Would you rather have super sensitive taste or super sensitive hearing? taste. I imagine it would help me eat healthier and cut out salt & sugar.
Would you rather never be able to drink sodas like coke again or only be able to drink sodas and nothing else? I don't drink soda, it actually gives me a headache.
Would you rather have amazingly fast typing / texting speed or be able to read ridiculously fast? this one is a no brainer- READ FASTER FOR SURE! To quote Dr. Seuss “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
Would you rather live on the beach or in a cabin in the woods? cabin in the woods- I'm not a big fan of the beach.
Would you rather be forced to dance every time you heard music or be forced to sing along to any song you heard? dance, like I said before, I should not sing!!!
Would you rather never be stuck in traffic again or never get another cold? I don't think anyone likes either. But at least you can sing/bop in the car while you're stuck in traffic but with a cold, life is hard. I choose never get another cold.
Would you rather have a bottomless box of Legos or a bottomless gas tank? bottomless gas tank?!?! say whaaaaaa?!? YES PLEASE! I really don't like gas stations! Plus, I can't build anything with Legos, enter sad face.
Would you rather spend the rest of your life with a sailboat as your home or an RV as your home? another no brainer- RV. We would travel the states in that bad boy!
Well, that's all folks. Thanks for reading!
Make it a great day! =)