Ch Ch Changes

Over the coming months, I will slowly be changing this blog over to a portfolio page for my photography.  Since last fall, I have done a lot of soul searching.  Since the birth of Sam, I feel like I have been lacking a creative outlet.  I focus all of my time and energy on raising him, but I need to create things in order to recharge my mental batteries.  I haven’t done much of that.  I stopped taking photos.  That speaks volumes right there.

So at the beginning of the year, I did what most people did and thought about my goals for 2013.  I have always been the dreamer; I talk about making plans, but I never follow through.  I wasn’t going to do that this year.  I need to change.

I evaluated my “professional” life and found it to be non-existent.  We shot a grand total of 2 weddings last year.  2.  That’s pathetic.  Don’t get me wrong, they were AMAZING weddings with fantastic clients, but I want to do more.  Want to be more.  So I thought long and hard about how to remedy that and I have decided to branch out on my own.  My business partner Lisa and my relationship has become extremely strained.  Our friendship is suffering, and we’re not even doing any business to show for it.  We’ve had a long talk, and we are no longer partners; we will do our own photography and help each other out because we want to support our friend, not because we feel like we have to.  I feel like our friendship is already improving, but it’ll take some time and effort to be where we used to.

So, now that I’ve broken free of A Thousand Words Photography, what’s the next step?  Education.  LOTS of education.  I have workshops after workshops lined up and have already learned so much.  I have a feeling I will be going through notebooks with all of the note taking I’ve done so far.  On top of the education, I am networking, finding a decent lawyer and accountant, and finding clients.  But the most important thing is that I get out there and shoot.  It’s what I love to do, and I miss it.

Before I can really go full throttle in this business is that I need to be accountable for my faults and actively work on improving them.  I am AWFUL when it comes to procrastinating and returning phone calls.  If you’re reading this, you know this.  While it’s not my intention to be rude, that’s exactly what I am.  This absolutely cannot be a part of my work ethic any longer.  So, I’m going to have to come up with a weekly schedule to keep me on track and basically staple my phone to my hand so it’s never far away.

I know it’s going to take time to work on all of this, especially my habits, so I have no intention on really starting up the business until later this year.  But until then I’m just going to keep working my hardest to be a great photographer.  In the end, I just want my family and friends to be proud of me.  I want to be proud of myself.

A house is not necessarily a home

Yes, the blog is still somewhat broken.  I haven’t put much thought into how to make it pretty.  I’ve been too busy playing Super Mario Brothers Wii with Matt to even think about it. 

A discussion with Danielle on the way to our knitting group brought up some interesting thoughts about my house.  While Matt and I have lived here for 5 and a half years, it’s really hard for me to think of it as a home.  The recent work to the kitchen and living room has helped tremendously, yet it still feels cold and boring.  Sure, I refer to the house as Grand Central Station, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be a warm and inviting place.

I’m slowly coming up with ideas and projects to add character and warmth (expect to see that word a lot) to the house.  Something I find to be sorely lacking is texture.  Things like shaggy carpets, linen curtains, and glass vases.  Variety and character.  Handmade things that may not be perfect, but they’re mine and I love them. 

So, the first step for all of this is to start crafting!  I have plans to knit and sew, embroider and paint, plant and tile.  But, in keeping with this years theme (simplicity), everything I add to the house must be balanced by the removal of at least 2 similar items.  You can have character without having clutter. 

It’s about time to make this house a home.

 

Oops!

Crap, I broke the blog.  Hopefully you all are reading this via your feed reader, so you can’t see the ugly.  Tech support is currently sleeping, so this may stay broken for a while.  

Simplicity

Happy new year (only 3 weeks late, not too bad for me)!  The past 6 months have been pretty busy, with the kitchen remodel turning out to be the project that never ends.  What is left to do includes a backsplash for the kitchen (we’re waiting on the tile to be in stock), base boards installed, and shelving next to the fireplace.  We have no deadline, so we’ve decided to take things slowly- better for our stress levels and wallets.

This is the time of year that people make resolutions in which they will break by February.  So, I’ve decided not so much make resolutions as to have a theme for the year.  This year is about simplicity.  My life has become too cluttered, and it’s time to simplify things.  
Step one:  simplify the house.  We have a house larger than we really need, and it’s filled with junk.  Most of said junk is mine.  I hold onto things for way too long.  I don’t need these things to remember.  So, throughout the year, we will be going through a major purge.  We (and when I say we, I mean me) will systematically go through each room of the house, and remove what is no longer needed.  Anything that is in good condition will be donated, anything left that can be recycled will be, and what’s leftover will be trashed.  
Step two: simplify our budget.  We (and again, when I say we, I mean me) have become wasteful in our spending.  There are so many things that I buy that I can just as easily make myself for a fraction of the price.  I think there needs to be a shift in our priorities.  
Things that I will be making as opposed to buying include: 
  • cleaning products
  • soap
  • anything I have the ability to sew
  • canned items (like salsas, soups, jams, jellies, pickles)
So, wish me luck!