Its Friday!!  Who’s excited?? Well, I am for one and hopefully you are too!!  Why am I excited you ask?? Well because I have already had two sessions this week and I have another two over the weekend!!  I am sure that I will realize next week that I am drowning in the sea of editing, but for now I am way pumped about having been behind my camera, working with my sweet clients so much this week!!

I am also excited becasuse I have found that while I absolutely love blogging, some days it is hard to put words together when I am constantly talking about sessions or educational content.  I love both topics, but some days its refreshing to just put a little more of myself into the blog post.  That’s why I have decided that the Faith + Full Time Focus series will take a little twist and, instead of being solely based on my experience of growing a business, it is going to be a recap of my week- from both a personal and professional stance!

So, lets begin!  A few thoughts, experiences, and lessons learned from the past few days!

Last week was an exciting one- full of three year anniversary celebrations and 26th birthdays kind of week.  I say that as if there were multiples of each, but for our household, it consisted of a two day stretch of a lovely birthday followed by our anniversary the next day.  (You can read about that HERE) 

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It was also our oldest pup’s birthday the same days as mine.  Jill was adopted so we have no idea when her actual birthday is and I decided when we got her that she and I must share the same birthday… Which normally means that between my birthday and our anniversary, I forget about her birthday and thank my sweet husband when he stops us at Petsmart before dinner to go in and buy her a last minute birthday gift…. Yup, he really loves me and Yup, I am obsessed with my dogs.

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This past Saturday was spent photographing the wedding of one of my wonderful 2016 couples.  It was a beautiful day- one of which I cant wait to blog about in the upcoming weeks. However, I mention this just to point out that Sunday was then spent in bed in pj’s working from my laptop- all day- recovering from what I like to call a “Wedding hangover”.  A hangover from alcohol?-you may ask.  Well no, of course not, I’m pregnant silly.  But in deed a hangover from being “on” for 8 hours straight.  How do other photographers work double header weekends- actually no, how do pregnant women work double header weekends?!  That I don’t yet understand but more power to you, whoever you are out there because I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus the day after a wedding!!

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I got to shoot my first honeymoon session this week!!  I think they may be a new favorite!!  That just married glow and the way they giggled to one another as he lifted her off her feet and spun her around! – swoon!!!

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Tuesday was a day well spent in which I had a massive to do list- one that I stayed up too late on Monday night writing out- and I spent the day marking things off one by one.  There’s just something about a cleaned out inbox and a little website refresher that can make you feel on top of the world- am I right?!

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If you read my Instagram post from Wednesday, then you’ll know that while I got plenty knocked off of my to do list Tuesday, it was also a day spent feeling stressed and overwhelmed.  That post should have been a blog all of its own.  I know that its something that more people can relate to than those who may not admit it.  Lets face it though- sometimes we dig ourselves into holes in which we think we are Wonder Woman (or superman) and we believe that we can do it all.  The truth is that we can do anything out hearts desire, but in order to do that we need to also set realistic expectations for ourselves and realize that in doing it all and all of it at once, we neglect room for rest and rejuvenation- without those, we aren’t able to be the best version of ourselves. 

My (hopefully) solution to not feeling this overwhelmed for the remainder of my career is to take time off.  I have scheduled days off throughout the summer.  I had scheduled days off for May and June as well, but I went against my better judgement and booked sessions for those days anyways- not recommended my friend.  Point being that I am honoring those days off that I have scheduled myself for the rest of the summer because in order to grow my business and be the best wife/boss lady that I can be, I need to first take care of myself.  I totally challenge you to do the same sweet friend!!!

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In regards to the above and below points, I set a goal for myself to read.  Sounds simple enough, reading.  But the truth is that I buy books compulsively because I adore the idea of reading, but who seriously has time to read?!  Not this girl.  Well, I put it on my goal list for this month (and the rest of the summer) to read all of the books that I purchased and sent to the shelf to never be touched again.  The idea is to read at least a chapter a day- I can get that much accomplished right??  Hopefully! haha.  But I started this summer reading list with The Best Yes, because what better book to begin with in relation to the points above about feeling overwhelmed and amxed out.  I’m only on chapter 3 but I seriously feel like someone wrote it just for me!

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Speaking of goals, I took advice from the Abby Grace newsletter in which she suggests writing down your goals to have them visually in front of you.  I decided to take that one step further and created a monthly goal list as well as an annual goal list.  I only have 2 things on my annual list, but we’ll be new parents in the fall so really that’s enough of a change without adding too many goals to the list!! haha

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In regards to business- I am officially booked for the summer- I cant even believe it.  I am so blessed that all of my hard work is paying off and that I am able to work with some of the most amazing clients!!  You guys are seriously the best!!  This summer’s blog is going to be some kind of fabulous yall so stay tuned!!

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Speaking of being booked- I am currently booking for September 2016 portrait sessions and 2017 weddings!!  If you’re interested in a September session- here are the dates the last dates available!! (September 1, 6, 10, 21, 22, and 26 )

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And last but certainly not least as it is potentially one of the most exciting- Baby H update!!!  Baby H is well and getting so strong in there!!  I am 20 weeks a 1 day which means that he/she is about 10 inches long and almost one pound!!  That’s what the books say at least! Our next appointment is this coming Wednesday and we are so excited to see him/her!!  We found out the gender weeks ago- some of you already know if I have seen you in person, but I’m planning a special gender reveal blog post to be featured soon so I want to keep it a secret on here for now!!  Want to know ahead of time??  Feel free to come find me and I will probably blab it for the whole world to hear bc We. Are. Thrilled!!  Ah!! 

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Enjoy your weekend, friends!!  Here are a few sneak peeks of what’s to come on the blog this week!!