Personal | Bound for Boston!

I'm sorry all's been silent on the blogging front, lately. Things have been as bustling as ever, and I'll definitely have lots of shoots/weddings/etc to show off in the very near future. BUT, for today I'm really excited about heading to Boston for the weekend with several girlfriends to celebrate THIS girl's birthday! Much like the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, I've never been to Boston in the fall, so I'm incredibly thrilled with this chance to do just that! Can you say coffee shops, clam chowdah, shopping, Mike's Pastries, more coffee shops, and more shopping? Yes, PLEASE. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and are enjoying the gorgeous fall colors (if they haven't already disappeared in your part of the country, yet). My camera (of course) is going with me to Boston, so I'll be sure to give you a peek into our happenings upon my return. :)

Happy almost-November, friends!

Goals | October

My WORD, time passes way too quickly, these days. I suddenly realized that it's October and already time for another month of different goals to achieve. To be honest, that overwhelmed me a bit. I feel like I've been letting myself down, a bit, with what I'm NOT achieving....which I realize is the wrong perspective to have. It's so much better to look at what IS accomplished and be proud of that, but since we're all our own biggest critics, I have a feeling the rest of you probably identify with being more prone to look at your "failures".

Nevertheless, silly as it may sound, I'm proud of myself for continuing to even have and set goals, in spite of occasional discouragement or lack of accomplishment. Sometimes the most important thing is to just keep trying, no matter how imperfect the results. So, with that said, lets look back on September!

PERSONAL GOALS

• Work on journaling more often following Bible-reading/prayer
• Work out 3-4 times per week (I've really failed at this, this month. I've been so unmotivated, and while I've hit 3 times a week for a couple of the weeks...the others have been more like 2 times. Gonna try to get good and motivated again!)
• Order a wedding photo on canvas with my Groupon!
• Work on 1 or 2 other small decorative things for the apartment (I ordered two MORE canvases & have begun the brainstorming process for a shadow box project...)
• Have girl time with at least 4 different friends in person
• Call or hand-write at least 3 far-away girlfriends/family members
• Make more progress catching-up on personal photo editing & uploading
• Cook/bake at least 2 new recipes (I did this, this & this!)
• Finish last month's book & start another (Finally finished The Scarlet Pimpernel & am now reading and almost done with Phantom of the Opera :)
• Start a temporary, part-time job!

BUSINESS GOALS

• Make detailed weekly to-do lists
• Total the rest of the receipts/costs from May - August
• Add mileage for both cars from August
• Blog at least 2 times a week (still/always trying this!)
• Submit 2 shoots to blogs
• Shoot 2 weddings
• Design 1 Wedding Album & 1 Portrait Album
• Create "ideal client" profile
• Open business savings account

As you can tell, my main dissatisfaction comes with how few of my business goals I've been getting done....But alas! Now for October:

PERSONAL GOALS

• Work on journaling more often following Bible-reading/prayer
• Work out 3-4 times per week
• Put together shadow box with wedding materials
• Hang canvas prints
• Have girl time with at least 4 different friends in person
• Call or hand-write at least 3 far-away girlfriends/family members
• Cook/bake at least 2 new recipes
• Finish last month's book & start another, in a different genre
• Show my parents around Richmond/DC! (They're visiting later this month! :D)

BUSINESS GOALS

• Make detailed weekly to-do lists
• Total the rest of the receipts/costs from May - August - FOR REAL
• Add mileage for both cars from August - FOR REAL
• Blog at least 2 times a week
• Submit 2 shoots to blogs
• Shoot 2 weddings
• Design 1 Wedding Album - FOR REAL
• Create "ideal client" profile
• Open business savings account - FOR REAL
• Begin working on new website & blog with designer!
• Don't get discouraged and keep making goals!

So, as you can see a lot of my business goals are the same...but this month, I mean it! I really, really want and need to get those things done. And most importantly, I want to not be discouraged even when months go by and I don't meet as many of my goals as I'd like. Progress is progress is progress, no matter how much or little!

Stay encouraged, friends! This year is coming to a close sooo quickly, so finish strong! :)

And in parting, I leave you with a few shots from Tuesday night at the Virginia State Fair with Aaron, Lydia, Paul & Lily!

Portraits | Bethany

It's craaaazy that it's October, already, and that it means I've lived here in Virginia for almost a year, now. (Furthermore, that I've been married for almost a year, now!) Time seriously flies by quickly, these days. (It seems to be part of adulthood....)

One of the things I've been most grateful for in this last year are the new friendships the Lord has blessed me with since moving here. It's been so wonderful to deepen friendships with those I used to know merely as acquaintances and to start and build some brand new relationships, altogether. One of the latter has been with this beautiful, bubbly, vibrant girl named Bethany.

I first met Bethany last December at a friend's Christmas party. She had recently moved back to the Richmond area (where she had grown up) after living elsewhere for several years, and I had just recently moved to the Richmond area after transplanting from Indiana due to my aforementioned marriage. It's hard to say why we hit it off so instantly - whether because we're both just social, outgoing, friendly people who enjoy making new friends (which is true!) or because, in a sense, we both were the "new kid on the block" and sensed that affinity in each other. Whichever it was, I'm SO glad it happened. Since last December Bethany has become such a good friend to me. She's hung out on many-a-girl-night with me, given me company when Aaron has been out of town and I felt lonely, referred clients to me, gotten me a temporary job at the office where she works so we can hang out together AND get paid while doing it (brilliant! ;), and made me delicious lattes on more than one occasion. She's one of the most energetic, encouraging and cheerful people I know (not to mention gorgeous) so you can imagine how thrilled I was back in July when I asked, on a whim, if she'd be willing to do a spontaneous shoot with me and she agreed!

It turned out to be a SUPER humid evening, but she was a champ, nonetheless, and the only sad part is how long it's taken me to post this shoot! So, without further ado, check out my beautiful friend Bethany. :)

We started out shooting in a little wooded area behind my apartment complex, since the sunlight was so pretty.

After a while, we decided we needed some air conditioning and a change of scene, so we headed off to Cafe Caturra for the second part of the shoot.

Is she cute, or what?

Just look at those eyes!

She also always wears fun accessories - she's got a great sense of style!

Trying not to be scalded by the coffee, haha.

It was SUCH a fun shoot - of course it always is when all you're really doing is hanging out with a friend, and snapping some pictures along the way. :) Thanks for being a great model and great friend, Bethany!