This post is being written late at night- post day job work, post dream job work, post sunset session- with a bowl of fruit loops to my right and a sweet black lab to my left.  I was responding to emails as I contemplated even preparing a blog for today.  I mean, do I really have anything to share with anyone??  Seriously though…

And then of course thats when all of the thoughts about all of the things popped into my head so here we go- lots of facts and thoughts and opinions and a good chunk of my heart here for you to read!!

. . . . . 

Ten minutes ago, I felt as thought I had nothing to share.  Here’s the truth in that… There is none.  We all have a story to share.  Yourself included.  Someone somewhere out there is waiting to hear your story because in some small way or another, you can make such an impact on the hearts of those that follow your journey.  I am preaching to myself a little bit here, but lets make a point to tattoo this on our brain and always remember that we are living our story each and every day and we need to do ourselves justice enough to share that story.

. . . . . . 

Maybe we aren’t traveling the world and maybe we aren’t booking million dollar weddings and maybe even after that pep talk in #1 we still don’t feel worthy of sharing our story.  Well what if instead, we turned the tables and decided that we are enough??  Its so easy to get caught up in this world that we live in of perfectly curated social media posts and lose sight of reality.  But what if the reality is that we work hard, we have an amazing heart, and we are worthy of so much more than we give ourselves credit for??  Maybe thats enough.

. . . . . 

Grace.  A friend of mine posted earlier this week about grace and how she was so happy that the word kept popping up in her life because it was a constant reminder of something that she needed more of.  Definite heart eyes to that post all day long… BUT that got me thinking… We do see and hear talk about grace so much!!  So much!  And while it is an amazing and freeing thing, I am starting to wonder if we are over using it… I worry that we see so much about grace, then we begin to think that we should be posting about giving ourselves grace.   But my question is- are we really giving ourselves grace or are we just posting about the idea to give ourselves grace??  Grace, like many things, is easy to preach but a bit more difficult to truly achieve.  I myself have posted about grace before.  But i just learned what the experience of grace feels like this past weekend and as I sat with my husband Monday night, I told him that I felt so relaxed, so at ease, so at peace- as if everything was just ok.  It was such a freeing feeling, my friend!!!  My point to this (really long) topic, is that next time you are contemplating giving yourself some grace- do it.  But don’t just say it or think it, Live out what it means to give yourself grace and let go of the things that are weighing down your heart at that moment.  I promise you that a weekend full of grace is so worth it when it comes time to get back to getting your hands dirty and making things happen.

. . . . . 

Today and Monday mark my last days with a day job… Very soon I will be a full time business owner and I seriously am not sure that it has quite sunk in yet.  I am so excited and so anxious.  But I really think that its going to take me waking up Tuesday morning with my own little block schedule (already posted on the fridge!) for me to really understand the truth of the situation in that I have the chance to live out my passion every day from now on.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a few tears come when the reality finally hits me!!

. . . . . 

I booked my first out of state wedding this week!!  Ah!!  I am SO excited!!  (Huge thanks to the sweet couple that has now joined the 2017 AHP wedding group!)  These guys are amazing.  I worked with them in December for a holiday session and I just fell in love with them from the beginning!!  Their engagement session is next week so you’ll get to meet them on the blog (again) very soon!!  My sweet husband is already planning on traveling with me for their wedding just as he did for the wedding earlier this month when we traveled almost 5 hours away to work with one of my 2016 couples.  I am so pumped!!  The wedding will be at the Roanoke Island Aquarium in North Carolina and I can not wait the adventures and memories to be made that weekend!!

. . . . . 

You didn’t think I was going to leave out a baby H update did you?!?!  Ah! Baby H is growing so much!!  At our last appointment, he/she was just over 1 pound!!  I am noticing that my belly is growing at what seems like rapid speeds this week!!  Baby H is getting stronger by the day and I can feel him/her moving around in there so much more than ever before!! My cravings change daily- hourly even- so I don’t have any fun stories to share about that!  I still feel amazing.  You hear so many horror stories about pregnancy and it can be a little intimidating to listen to before hand but I seriously have been so blessed to be feeling as amazing as I do!!  I was 24 weeks yesterday!!  It hard to believe that we are more than half way through this journey.  As excited as I am to meet Baby H in a few months, I already think that a small part of me will miss being pregnant.  It’s such a magical feeling and I am cherishing every moment of this time!!

. . . . . .

And thats it folks!!  Thats all I have for you today, but I think that was plenty of food for thought!  I hope that each and every one of you has an amazing weekend!!  I actually SCHEDULED time off this weekendto be PRESENT.  That was one of my goals for 2016 and I am trying so hard to live out that goal.  Here’s to an amazing weekend of happiness and blessings and, yes, an opportunity for true grace.  (Image below was taken while we were adventuring in Dublin, Virginia + while it has nothing to do with this post, I am slightly in love with it + felt it needed to be incorporated!! haha)