We made it through another week, Friends!  I think that we all probably deserve a pat on the back and a “Job Well Done” at this point!  The end of the week obviously means its Friday which means its time for a new Faith + Full Time Focus post!!  Lots of thoughts, moments shared, and lessons learned from this week with the addition of a baby update mixed in there!

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This week was a bit less hectic than last week.  I thought that my first week of working for myself full time would be a breeze- that was a joke after the amount of hiccups that I experienced.  This week however, has been wonderful.  I am starting to get into a routine of figuring out exactly what works for me and just taking it day by day!  Bookings are at an all time high, sessions have been outstanding, and I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing people in the area.  I am still just so grateful to be at this point in my life and my business!!  It still doesn’t feel real some days!

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Last week I photographed my first elopement session and that was pretty much fabulous!  I cant wait to share more pictures from that session on the blog, but for now you can see a few sneak peeks on my Instagram account @abbyhudsonphoto !!  This gallery is one that surely will not disappoint- what started with a torrential down pour of rain and wind ended with a gorgeous sunset.  Not to mention that the bride wore a blush and white dress- need I say more?!  Oh, and while you’re there- don’t forget to take a look at this morning’s #FridayIntriductions post to learn five random facts about me that you may or may not know!!

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Remember the styled shoot from earlier this year that I have been posting a few sneak peeks on here and there? Well, that shoot was featured on the United With Love blog yesterday + I can not wait for you to see!!  I’ll be featuring this shoot on the blog soon to show you all of the images from that day, but for now, you can take a look at yesterday’s post here!!

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The next three weekends are wedding weekends for AHP!  I could not be happier to work with the rest of my 2016 brides and grooms.  Its hard to believe that my wedding season will be coming to an end soon and while that makes me a tad bit sad, I know that my season is ending early for good reason!  I didn’t want to be that photographer that went into early labor and couldn’t make it to the most important day in my couple’s relationship!!  The good news is that this industry has brought so many amazing photographer friends into my life and I was able to refer late 2016 bookings to friends and acquaintances that I know will take amazing care of them!  For now however, I am gearing up for the next three weeks and I could not be more excited!!  Each couple is so uniquely different.  I remember all of their love stories.  I remember the look in their eyes during their engagement session as they embraced.  And-more importantly- I remember the extraordinary love that each of them possessed and capturing that is the highlight of my career!  

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Now for the reason that many of your probably logged on to begin with- A Baby H updated!!!!  These are my favorite parts of the Friday series lately!  Baby H weighed in this week at 2.5 pounds!!  Sweet thing is growing!!  Everything still looks great and he/she is super active!  Chocolate milk still seems to be the prevalent craving and my belly button is slowly making its way front and center!  I have been promising for WEEKS that I would do a gender reveal post soon and needless to say that big reveal post hasn’t happened yet, but I hate to make y’all wait too much longer!!!  So-Monday is the day Friends!!  Check back in on Monday to read the full Baby H gender reveal, find out how long we’ve known, what our guesses were, and why we couldn’t be more thrilled!!

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Last point in todays blog is possibly the one that I want you to hear the clearest.  There has been one valuable lesson that I’ve learned in this short amount of time of being a full time self employed individual- and thats the fact that life is unpredictable.  People are unpredictable. And the only way to get by is to not let it harden your heart.  

Bullies will still always be there trying to chip away at your happiness and success.  Some friends will become closer to your heart than every before, while some will drift away without every saying good bye.  We spend so much time in our industry practicing and preaching about community over competition and it is such a beautiful thing!!  But what about the acquaintances in our lives that are not a part of the creative industry??  What about the friends that live lives outside of our industry and maybe don’t quite understand us??  How to we walk through life with them when our relationships begin to feel more like a cat fight than a community of strong friends because we have built our own success from the ground up??? 

Tough questions to swallow, right??  Well, I have decided that the only way to combat this is through kindness, prayer, and a soft yet guarded heart.  Don’t let anyone steal your happiness away.  Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.  Always remember how hard you’ve been working to get where you are and the next time that you start to feel down because your success got in the way of a relationship, remember that perhaps that relationship wasn’t as strong as you thought it was to begin with.  Always choose kindness over hostility and always choose prayer over defensive attacks.

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Thats all for today friends!  Its hot out there, but the summer will be coming to a close before we know it and then we will all be complaining about how cold it so- Have a fabulous weekend everyone!!!  Make sure to make time for the people and things that matter most and enjoy every second of it!  And just because I love it so very much- here’s one look at the elopement session that I mentioned earlier in this post because when the bride isn’t afraid to get her dress wet, you take the opportunity to walk into the waves as they crash around the love and strength that these two have created a marriage on.