21st Century Bartering & Family Photos

July 20, 2012 /

Back in the old days people would trade services for services; you couldn’t always expect to get cash payments for work you performed.  Doctors would treat their patients and sometimes receive chickens, eggs, or even produce in return.  Many parts of the world still function with systems like this, but the USA generally works on money for services rendered.  I’m here to tell you, though, that you can still try the bartering system!  Here’s how it recently worked for me:

My friend, Callie, photographer of Achor & Eden, master mind of The Not Wedding, has wowed me with her photography and business skills ever since I met her in 2009.  For the past three years she has taken pictures of my kiddos on several occasions; never for payment.  These are some of my favorite ones she’s taken:

Enter me, the SAHM, non-business-woman-with-no-official-services-to-offer.  But, I do like to cook and bake.  So, what did we trade?  Awesome pictures for food {that I hope is awesome}.  You see, Callie is about to give birth to their second daughter, and we all know that having a newborn baby often means less time to prepare meals.  So, over the past two weeks I’ve been making meals for Callie and her family to put in the freezer; when Baby Girl #2 is born, they’ll be set for about a week.

Some of the foods I made {click on the highlighted ones to find the recipe}:
Beef Stew
Baked Ziti
BBQ Pork
Sweet Potato Casserole
Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
BBQ Meatballs
Twice Baked Potatoes
Corn Muffins
Banana Zucchini Bread
Beef Burritos

I tried to make meals that would freeze easily and that would suffice for an entire meal {aka casseroles}.  

And, what did I receive in return?  These awesome pictures of our family.  These were taken back in May, when Mason was just 5 weeks old, but I. love. them.  One of my favorite parts about these photos is that we took them in our yard, mostly in front of our garden.

Thanks, Callie!

What could you possibly trade with a friend?  


All photos courtesy of Achor & Eden

10 Comments

  • leslie.kidd

    July 20, 2012 at 6:48 pm

    What great pictures! Wow you baked/cooked lots!! I saw something about it on facebook and was slightly jealous 😉 If only we had that much freezer space…lol.

  • Heidi

    July 20, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    Oh my, you are a genius. 🙂 Those pictures are beautiful (the one of Bradley and Mason is just precious – pictures of Daddies and their boys just make me melt!) And, I’m really excited about the link to these recipes – been thinking about doing some freezer cooking for our house! I’ll have to keep this little bartering thing in mind… 🙂

  • Lydia

    July 20, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    This is a great idea! The pictures are adorable as well! I can’t believe that you have had 3 little ones since I saw you last…

  • Natalie

    July 22, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    That’s so cool! I actually just watched that Barter show on the History channel for the first time yesterday, and I had no idea that people did that! These are great family photos!

  • sherri lynn

    July 24, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    I LOVE ALL OF THESE PICTURES!!!! Your kids are so cute and fun! Caleb and I were just talking about how we miss them and that we are SO excited to be able to hang out with them (and you and hopefully B!) all week!