Birmingham
Hi there! I am Virginia Schultz. Christian. Wife. Mother. Photographer. Friend.
I grew up on the central coast of California. I have lived here in central Alabama for a little over one year! Birmingham is such a fantastic place, and I am so grateful to be welcomed in by the Birmingham Mom Collective with such open arms. So what brought me to Alabama? I won’t be too long-winded, but the journey to Alabama wouldn’t have been possible without some key events throughout my life.
Mom
I was attending college in California with my mom, the most incredible human ever, and I had no real desire to do anything other than become a wife and mom.
Sidebar: I overheard a couple in line at Disneyland a few years back talking about some recent polls that had been done. I don’t remember the exact numbers or details of all the polls, but I do remember that one of them had to do with how many women in the US become a wife/mother and don’t pursue another form of work. The poll results showed that a greater percentage of women were happily staying at home with their children. The man, obviously confused by these results, proclaimed with great disdain, “Geez. Why don’t more women have aspirations?!”. But I present another perspective: being a wife and mother IS the dream. It IS the aspiration. I would argue that caring for your little ones is maybe the most important work that one can do and I have never felt guilty or the need to apologize for that being my biggest achievement and dream of my life. Sometimes our dreams look a whole lot like really ordinary things…AND THAT’S OK.
Ok. Stepping down from the soapbox now.
College was merely busy work for me until I could pursue my actual dream. I met my husband in a coincidental set of circumstances that will forever be ingrained into my mind as some of the sweetest memories of my life. He had finished Basic Training with the Air Force just about nine months earlier and was lonely and very far away from his family for the first time in his life. My family basically adopted him into our family before we were even married. During the week, my mom and I would attend college, sometimes swinging by to grab a quick lunch; then, on Fridays, we would pick him up and bring him home for the weekend before repeating this routine the following week. We were married five short months after we met. We just celebrated 18 years of marriage, and when I tell you it’s just gotten better, it truly has. I am so blessed by the gift that is my husband. Honestly, he is the best thing about me.
Ever since I could remember, I have loved babies. I was the baby who loved babies. God was incredibly gracious to my husband and me and gave us six beautiful daughters. Yes, six. Yes, all girls. No, we weren’t trying for a boy. Yes, our hands are full, and we absolutely love it. No, my husband is not suffering with only daughters. We were just trying to have humans and they all happened to be girls. I never had a vision for what my family would look like other than wanting an amazing husband and lots of babies. I could not feel more blessed in the abundance of joy and love God has granted my husband and me through our incredible daughters. If my husband is the best thing about me, my kids are the next best thing about me.
We are not the average Air Force family, having spent most of our almost 20 years of service in Omaha, Nebraska. While I was born and raised in California, I really don’t claim that as home anymore and haven’t for a long time. We’ve spent a few short snippets of time stationed in Texas and California, and in 2021 the Air Force moved us to Central Alabama.
Collective
Now that my kids are older, I get to be the mom that serves other moms. I own Virginia Schultz Photography and specialize in newborn, maternity, and family portraiture. I find such joy in helping women see the beauty in their motherhood journey. Photography has always been a creative outlet for me; now, I get to use my art to serve others! I’m greatly looking forward to lending my photography, writing, and motherhood “expertise” to the Birmingham Mom Collective. I can’t wait to serve the mamas of Alabama with the unique perspectives that my journey through life has taught me.
