Tough decisions

Well - hello there!  It is has been quite a while since I have checked in or posted anything here and it is probably time for an update.

Late last year I decided I needed to take a little hiatus from my business - it was winter, which is quiet anyway, but I didn't even want to think about blogging or updating my website or even just keeping up with emails.  I just wanted to BE.

My family had a tough year in  2017.  I lost my mom after an extended illness.  And a few weeks later we almost lost our sweet Caroline and spent most of the summer sleeping on a hospital couch and praying for things to just be NORMAL again.  Isn't sad how we seem to NEED to go through incredibly hard and trying times to really value and appreciate something as simple as normal days? 

Once our awful summer was over, we went back into "normal" life and I continued on with my family/senior/wedding photography business. 

But something was different.

Although I truly did enjoy my clients (and I had the BEST clients!) and I LOVED creating and capturing beautiful images and moments for them, I realized that my priorities have subtly shifted.  I found myself missing just a "normal" weekend more and more.  I felt sad when a beautiful fall weekend arrived and we were unable to make plans due to my other commitments.   

Also, those kiddos up there in that pic?  They are BUSY!  Holy cow, I thought being a parent of little ones was crazy, but being a parent to kids who are involved in sports is extremely time consuming!!

So I started to ask the question....do I still NEED to be doing this?  How would I feel if I weren't running a business any longer?   And the answer was finally clear.  I need to step back and just shoot for ME and my family again and have fun.  I need to spend as much time as possible with those kiddos before they fly my nest.

 I do have a few upcoming sessions that I am honestly excited about - and a couple great weddings later this year.  Which, to me, sounds like the PERFECT amount of clients for the year.  But I will no longer be accepting new clients.  I am not sure if this will be permanent or not.  I guess I will see how I feel as time goes on.   

I want to thank ALL my amazing clients over the last ten (??!!) years.  It was truly an amazing experience.

Until next time!

Miranda and Christian | An Anchor Village Wedding

So I haven't blogged a session in...well...months....and I don't even know where to start so why not pick one of my amazing recent weddings!

Oh my.  THIS wedding.

A beautiful couple at a gorgeous venue on a perfect late September afternoon!  It can't get much better than this.

Thank you so much Miranda and Christian for choosing me as your wedding photographer.  It was such a pleasure and honor to be part of such an amazing day.

Onto the [MANY] photos!  

Oh....Hello there!

Well...it has been what?  Four months since I last posted on this blog?  Holy cow.  

But I just wanted everyone to know that I am still here. I just have been pretty much kicked in the as$ with life over the few months.

Over those last four months, I spent about half of that time sitting by a hospital bed.  Needless to say, during this time all my focus was 100% on family and less than 0% on my business.  Luckily, one of the perks of being my own boss is I can "check out" whenever I need.  And I definitely needed a big "checkout" this summer.

After the months of hospital time, when things started getting "normal" again.....the only thing I could think about was just being home.  Just trying to enjoy the rest of quickly dwindling summer with my kiddos. Just trying to make up for all the time lost in the web of the medical system. 

To be honest, these hard times really gave us a reality check on what is important in life.  Not that we didn't appreciate little things but we definitely got a butt whooping to really remind us. It isn't being "busy", it isn't being "popular".  And it definitely isn't earning as much money as we can.  

It is only one thing - living a comfortable and thankful life with the ones we love.  Simple.

I have slowly but surely starting to reschedule sessions for the late summer and fall and things are busy!  Of course, I must add my new view of being "busy" isn't to book so many sessions I don't have time for anything else, it is to book a few sessions and leave plenty of time to reschedule for weather AND plenty of time for family.

That being said....I don't have any weekends available in September and very few in October.  Weekdays are a little easier but still busy.  If you do want to schedule for fall I would recommend contacting me soon!

Here's to a [hopefully] VERY uneventful rest of the year!