Goodbye, Snow

See you next winter, snow!

February 2014 Check-in

Good morning, one and all. It's been a weird February for me already.

I'm severely limiting my goals this month to DO ALL THE TAXES. Oh, and I need to complete my Carmen Sandiego costume for Katsucon. I was actually pretty surprised at what an easy costume it is- red coat, red hat, black boots, that's really all you need for people to get the idea. I cannot wait for Katsucon and Tournaments in two weeks!!

Let me be real for a moment, here. I'm currently feeling overwhelmed by many things. Or maybe just a couple things, but they're big. Sometimes I question why I am making life difficult for myself by being an entrepreneur when life could be so much safer if I worked some 9-5 job like I'd been doing for the past couple of years.

I've been in a personal battle for maybe the past year where I've been weighing safety and security against... happiness and freedom. And the choices I have made clearly illustrate my propensity towards the latter.

Do I have regrets? Sometimes. But I know how unhappy I would be if I hadn't made the decisions I did.

So here I am, looking at my first tax season as a business owner, with my car in the shop, uncertain as to where I'll be living in a few months, trying to get more bookings during the slowest season of the year, and yet I can't help but feel excited and hopeful for the future. Through all this uncertainty, there's been a candle of hope that has never gone out, and I don't think it ever will.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that if you want something to happen, you have to make it happen. Waiting won't do you any good whatsoever.

Sooo anyway, I wanted to share something awesome today. Over the past few months I've had the delight of being in the presence of a group of four generations- twice! One of which is part of my own family. How special is that?

I also held my cousin's baby, which I think is a first for me- I can't remember having held a tiny baby before! And I didn't even come close to dropping her or anything! I think that's a mega achievement.

Have a free and happy February.

Arima Family - Lifestyle Photography

Baby Leo and his parents enjoy a quiet Sunday morning together.

Old Town Alexandria Family Session

Just him, her, and the fur baby. I love Old Town.

January 2014 Check-in

It's going to be a busy year.

For January, I'm working on finalizing my client guides and pricing, and getting completely up-to-speed on my workflow. I've also got a couple personal projects under the radar for now that I can't wait to see come to fruition within the next year.

Here's a frame from my very last set of photos taken in 2013. I can't wait to post the whole shoot!

Bring it on, 2014!

November 2013 Goals and Whatnot

I say 'and whatnot' because I'm starting to think of this monthly blog post thing as my life update for anyone out there who may be interested, since I don't really blog all that much... but really mostly for me, to keep myself accountable and so on and so forth, etc.

Had an awesomely busy weekend full of both clients and friends. Oh, I was Professor Trelawney for Halloween; my hair has the ability to be super freaking epic, so it was pretty awesome. Sunday morning I had a lovely family shoot in Old Town Alexandria; more to come on that one later!

So my goals for November:
-Create monthly budget (yeah, I'll get to this someday, really...)
-Finish my NaNoWriMo novel (be my buddy!)
-Read Agyar
-Start up my Quickbooks stuff
-Make bourbon-bacon butter for Friendsgiving
-Redesign my website's home page a bit
-Write up first drafts of new client literature

I think that'll do it. Happy Tuesday, all.

Kohut Family - Leonardtown Wharf Portrait Session

And here's a nice family I hung out with last Saturday on the water in St. Mary's County. I absolutely love doing family sessions with older or adult kids because it's usually been years since they've had nice family pictures taken, and so they all really look forward to seeing the photos after the shoot!
It was a lovely day for a walk by the bay :)