Turning Point

Getting personal in blogs is controversial topic to many bloggers. A lot of people out there are very private on their blogs and only talk about whatever their business/industry is. I think getting personal in "business blogs" can be a good thing. That way your clients and readers can not only see the business side of you but also the personal side. I find this to be especially helpful in photography as people tend to hire someone that they can consider a friend, not a stranger.

That being said I think there are some things that should definitely be kept private. I will not go into details but in the past month (ish) a lot has changed in my life. I am heading in a completely new direction now than I was 2 or 3 months ago. This is why I haven't blogged in such a long time. When life gets hectic you have to get your priorities straight, and even though I love to blog and I love my readers, my blog wasn't one of my main priorities during these changes in my life.

But that has changed :) I have a bunch of photos to post up from the past 2 months. This week I purchased my first macro lens (Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM for anyone that was wondering) and did some quick test shots of my mom's sunflowers last night. I absolutely adore the results and can't wait to use these beautiful lens more.

Please leave some critique on these photos in the comments section :) I haven't done much macro photography before so I'm very new to it and want to learn/grow as much as I can in this field.

Happy Friday :)

Inspiration - Week 14

Not to point out the obvious but I decided to take a week off of blogging. I officially started a new position at the "day job" so last week I was focusing on getting organized. And since I have been doing so well the past few months, I decided I deserved a break.

This week I'm inspired by bringing out the kid in me. Matt and I had a date day on Saturday. It was much needed and such a great day. The first thing that brought me back to my childish roots was yoga class. We worked on doing handstands against a wall. I haven't done those in years! They actually feel phenomenal. Like back bends, it is really a freeing posture. Gets the blood moving, heart pumping and a smile on your face :)

Then later in the day we went to see How To Train A Dragon in IMAX 3D. I have never seen so many kids before. I think we might have been the only people watching the movie that didn't have kids with us. After getting over the original disorientation of the 3D we were really blown away with the whole movie. My favorite childhood movie is The Little Mermaid and I really think How To Train A Dragon is pretty close to the top with it.

Sometimes life can real drain the life out of us. We tend to get so caught up with our jobs/commitments/hobbies that we don't just enjoy the moment. I challenge all of you to take even just a few hours out of your day and become a child again. Watch a favorite childhood movie/show. Do a finger paint piece of art. Build something with lego or play doh. Do something that made you happy as a child.

To start the ball rolling, here is the trailer for How To Train A Dragon.



PS-Lots of photos coming in the next few days!

Inspiration - Week 12 & 13

Wow. This past week has definitely had it's up an downs. There hasn't really been one thing in particular that has inspired me these 2 weeks so I decided to pick a general topic and a few people that have helped me with it.

In the summer I think I had mentioned at some point that I had attended a hot yoga class at Moksha Yoga in Halifax. Well every 2nd Sunday since Christmas my sister and I have been going to the evening hot yoga class at the Breathing Space yoga here in Bedford.

Before I go much further I thought maybe I would give you a brief description of my physical history. I have always been active. Start with gymnastics for a few weeks. Then I played competitive soccer year round for 11 years. My schedule got to busy to commit to soccer anymore so I became a gym freak. And as I have posted about last summer, I was into distance running for a while there. But none of this can compare to the past 3 months of yoga I have done.

I have never been a spiritual person but yoga has opened that door for me. I concentrate so hard in class that I can't actually think about anything else. In a way it is like meditation. I have become so much more in tune with my body and have a MUCH greater appreciation for it now. I am hoping that with some changes in the next few months I will be able to start going every Sunday. It has added so much to my life and I really wanted to thank a few people for helping me with this part of my journey.

To start I have to thank the lovely and inspiring Michelle Hicks. She is the owner of the Bedford branch of Breathing Space and she is the only instructor I have taken classes from. And I will only ever go to her. She has such a beautiful sole and brings so much to every class. No two are alike. I am always excited for each class because I know I will learn something new. If you are in the HRM area definitely take one of her classes and you will see what I am talking about.

The second person I want to thank is Kathryn Budig. Lately I have been spending a lot of time on Youtube. I found her channel a few weeks ago and have been glued to it ever since. Kathryn is a phenomenal yogi. She makes advanced poses look so easy.

And last but not least, Dashama. I actually stumbled onto her Youtube channel today and I have watched a ton of her videos since. She is a really great yogi and I can't wait to hit the mat in the morning and try out some of her routines.

If any of this interests you at all please watch the two videos below. The first one is of Kathryn and the second is Dashama.





Namaste :)

Self Portrait #3

In my last post I updated my 101 in 1001 list. I saw that one of my goals was a 50 self portrait project. I had completely forgot about this goal and had started doing self portraits anyway. So might as well keep the portraits coming. :)

Here is my third in the project. Oddly enough, it was taken in my bathtub! Ha ha ha. My bathroom has the most amazing light in it because pretty much one whole wall is frosted glass. Here I am in my soaker tub. The only thing I don't like about this photo is how ginormous my nose looks. But oh well. I still really like it.

And because Squeaky just wouldn't leave me alone while I was doing this I grabbed her for a photo. But she wasn't patient enough for the timer :P

101 Update

I have been playing catch-up in my Google Reader for the past 2 days and I ran across a 101 in 1001 post that the lovely Gail had put up on her blog. I originally made this list last June I believe so I am almost at the 1 year mark. It's pretty crazy how fast a year can fly by. I haven't really looked at this much in 2010 but I think it is time to start focusing on it a little bit more.

Some of the goals I'm not sure I can accomplish in the next 2ish years because of finances so a few goals might have to be changed. Eventually. We'll see maybe in 6 months?

Here it is :)

1. Register my business
2. Launch my website
3. Photograph a baby that is less and 1 week old (Layla)
4. Brand my business (happening right now)
5. Order my first sample albums
6. Attend WPPI
7. Meet someone inspiring
8. Intern w/ Jamie Delaine or Sarah Barlow
9. Create a canvas print from a vacation in Italy, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean
10. Upgrade to the Canon 5D MK II
11. Take a course/workshop in creative writing
12. Post in my blog 4 times a week (6/141) - definitely getting better in 2010
13. Go for a shopping trip in Boston
14. Read a photography related book once a month for 6 months
15. Read a business related book once a month (see list in side bar and also track books on GoodReads)
16. Read a book related to a topic of personal interest once a month (see list in side bar and also track books on GoodReads )
17. Paint 3 canvas paintings for our living room
18. Frame 100 photos
19. Take a homeless person out for lunch and learn about their life and their dreams
20. Bottle my own wine
21. Have my photography published
22. Go sky diving
23. Photograph a musician
24. Photograph an artist
25. Photograph a writer
26. Make strawberry & blueberry jam (07/07/09 – strawberry jam)
27. Run a marathon
28. Meet Jasmine Star
29. Take a hot yoga class (completed at Moksha Yoga in August 2009)
30. Photograph at least 5 weddings each year(2009 - 05.16, 06.14, 09.22)
31. Become a member of Canon Professional Services
32. Learn how to make HDR Photographs (07.14.2009-Ryan's trip to Halifax, Post here)
33. Join a craft class/club
34. Do 20 consecutive pushups
35. Do 20 consecutive pull ups
36. Plant a tree
37. Take a photo a day consecutively for 2 months
38. Knit an Afghan blanket
39. Learn how to clean my camera
40. Don't talk for 1 whole day
41. Spend 6 hours blind folded
42. Bake a cheesecake
43. Learn about another religion
44. Host a social networking event
45. Solve a rubik's cube in less than 1 minute (got it to around 2 minutes)
46. Hike for 1 hour naked
47. Make my own candles (Christmas '09)
48. Make my own jewelry
49. Photograph for a not for profit organization/charity
50. Start a food fight
51. Bike the Cabot Trail
52. Have my own garden
53. Take a ballroom dance class
54. Get a facial
55. Blow glass
56. Actually send out Christmas Cards (Christmas '09)
57. Have a romantic weekend at a bed & breakfast
58. Get a touch up tattoo
59. Make my own ballpoint pen
60. Keep a journal for 1 year
61. Get another kitten
62. Make a sculpture
63. Learn how to play 1 song on piano
64. Buy a house
65. Coach soccer for a summer
66. Donate blood
67. Donate plasma
68. Bake bread from scratch (Does it count if I witnessed Matt do it?)
69. Spend 1 whole day in bed with Matthew
70. Do some macro photography
71. Organize our storage room (Jan. 13/10)
72. Volunteer for charity/non-profit/hospital
73. Get a 6-pack
74. Photograph 1 wedding for free for a deserving couple
75. Write a poem
76. Have Matt teach me to snowboard
77. Complete a 50 photo self portrait project (2/50)
78. Have professional photos taken of Matt and I
79. Read the Bible
80. Blog a wedding within 12 hours of photographing it
81. Make plans with dad once a month (2/33)
82. Quit my job
83. Help a stranger with complete disregard for personal gain
84. Visit Ovens National Park
85. Go on a roller coaster
86. Photograph a hummingbird
87. Learn to french braid my own hair
88. Have a sexy girl party
89. Make corned beef and cabbage
90. Photograph a beach at sunrise
91. Photograph my grandparents
92. Photograph Matt's grandmothers
93. Organize my printed photos
94. Make a photo album of Matt and I
95. Take on a mentee (summer 09/10 – Quentina Parsons)
96. Send a balloon with a message in it into the sky
97. Complete 5 cross stitch (1/5 completed)
98. Decorate my home
99. Have a girls night with all of my close girlfriends
100. Make an official business plan.
101. Tell the people that are important to me that I love them more often (every day)

Sooo.. like I said, not much different from last time. Now that I've refreshed it in my head though I hope to really work on completing some more of them.

Inspiration - Week 11

I figured this might happen eventually. The week would come that I would not be inspired. This week was not very good at my "day job". Because of that I was a little blue this week. I haven't really been inspired by anything this week artistically but I did buy a new CD that I have stuck in my head.

I found this artist through the lovely Jamie Delaine. She photographed this musician multiple times and did the cover art for her CD. Laurell is a phenomenal musician. When I saw on Facebook that she released an album in the past month I checked out her music on Myspace and was pleasantly surprised. Her music kind of reminds me of Sarah McLachlan. I think my two favorites are "It's Dark Out", "Can't Stop Falling" and "In The Air". Check it out on her Myspace page and let me know what you think :)

Hope you all are feeling more inspired than I am. Here's to a fresh and new week full of happiness and sunshine.

Shimmy Shimmy

Growing up I used to get embarrassed so easily by the littlest of errors. I didn't have a great deal of self confidence around people my own age. In high school I started to only keep people in my life that I really care about and now I am surrounded with loved ones. Because of this I don't every get embarrassed. Don't get me wrong, I do embarrassing things ALL THE TIME. But as the quote goes, people who care don't matter and people who matter don't care. So I thought maybe I should share this kind of funny story about myself that happened on Monday.

I had the day off of work from my "day job" so I decided to have some me time in the afternoon. I am a huge fan of Lush products including all of their bath stuff. One of the last times I was at their store I had purchased over $50 worth of products so I got a free gift. In the gift was some shower gel, a bar of soap and this heart shaped glittery thing. Well I put it under my sink for a few weeks and decided to use this during my bath. I thought the heart shaped glittery thing was what's called a bath melt. A bath melt makes your bath really creamy and silky and softens your skin. Score! right?

So I ran my bath, threw in the "bath melt" and some of a bubble bar to get some pink bubbles and thought everything was all good. When the tub was almost full I saw that the bath melt still looked like it was whole. I picked it up and it felt kind of like oil based paint. You know, the stuff that NEVER comes off your skin? That stuff. I thought maybe it needed to be broken up a bit so I tried to break it using my hands, which didn't work and all I ended up doing was getting my hands smothered in sparkles. I started to worry because they wouldn't come off when I scrubbed my hands in the bath water. So I dropped the bar back in (bad idea number 2) and went to the sink to try using real soap and water. Didn't work. Hmm.. Well sparkles aren't all that bad right?

By this time the bath was full of hot water, and I have a big bath, I didn't want to waste it so I thought, what the hey, I might as well still relax in it. I don't have anywhere to go tonight so a little sparkles won't hurt. I got in, closed my eyes and let the hot water soothe some sore muscles and enjoyed the peace and quiet. When I opened my eyes I saw these little oily globs floating around in the water. Touched one and it was like a sparkle explosion on my finger. Great. So now I'm literally covered in sparkles, neck to toes and because it's all oily it won't come off. Whatever. I relaxed for a little bit longer and then decided to do something about it.

I got out, took a shower and used one of Lush's sugar scrubs to scrub off the sparkles. Well it worked, but then I was covered in scratches because the sugar scrub is pretty harsh. Scratches are better than sparkles though right?

Turns out that the "bath melt" is called a shimmy shimmy glitter bar. You're supposed to rub it on your skin dry to get a little sparkle. Not melt it in hot water and bath in it. Hahaha. It's always good to be able to laugh at yourself right? Well you all can laugh at me too :P lol. Next time I will definitely be reading instructions online for products I'm not 100% sure on.

Here's a photo of the little devil bar.

Making Me Happy

I have always liked a few songs by John Mayer but just recently I have really been appreciating his work more and more. I'm slowly starting to get exposed to his type of music and as corny as it sounds, I find it very uplifting. It warms my soul and always puts a smile on my face. It is probably the best music to listen to while working.

Take a listen and let me know if it makes your heart a little lighter :)

Take Many With You When You Fall

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

I grew up playing checkers and other board games like Clue and Guess Who. Don't get me wrong, these are wonderful games but they aren't really challenging. When I was young I didn't really have the attention span to spend too much time learning new games I considered to be boring, like chess. I mean, why spend a few hours moving pieces around a board when you can blow up someones battleship in 20 minutes? Makes sense right?

Needless to say, I've grown a lot more patient with the years and I finally learned how to play chess. I've played a few games in the last 2 years but since we don't have a chess board I never challenged Matt. So when we went for an afternoon tea in a local shop and I saw a chess board I knew we would have to go head to head.

I am definitely a speed chess player. As soon as Matt made his move I made mine within a minute and then Matt would take 5 minutes to think of his next move. Maybe the game wasn't made for me? Maybe I should be one of those people that play it with the timer beside the board? Or maybe I should have spent 5 minutes on each move because as you can see below, it didn't work out too well.

When Matt started to remove my pieces from the board with increasing speed I decided it would probably be pretty stupid to assume that I could win. So instead I decided if I was going down, I would take as many of his pieces with me as I could. All in all it was a great game (even if it was 2 hours long) and I definitely want to play again. But next time it will be at home, in pj's, wrapped in a warm comfy blanket. That way I can nap while Matt is deciding his next move :)

Happy Birthday To A Not So Little Sister :)

I officially feel old. Ok maybe not really old but older. My not so little sister just turned 18 today. Wow. To look back at the last 18 years and think of all of our memories together and as a family is one fun trip. I was 4 1/2 when my sister Jessica was born. We had so much fun when we were little but when I became a teenager our age gap started to show a bit more. By the time I was out of my "stupid teen" years my sister was in them. It's just now that we have really started to get along again.

My sister is one of my best friends. Although our personalities are so different I love her with everything I've got. Happy Birthday Jessica. I'll try to stop calling you my "little" sister now ;)

Here are some photos of us growing up. I thought it would be entertaining to share :D

I think this is probably my favorite photo of us together. Photos like these make me love photography even more.













This was a few years ago when my parents renewed their vows. Don't laugh at my outfit :P

101 in 1001 Update - 01/10

I haven't really been focusing on these so much but I figured I should provide my first 2010 update to my 101 in 1001 goals.

1. Register my business
2. Launch my website
3. Photograph a baby that is less and 1 week old (Layla)
4. Brand my business
5. Order my first sample albums
6. Attend WPPI
7. Meet someone inspiring
8. Intern w/ Jamie Delaine or Sarah Barlow
9. Create a canvas print from a vacation in Italy, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean
10. Upgrade to the Canon 5D MK II
11. Take a course/workshop in creative writing
12. Post in my blog 4 times a week (2/141)
13. Go for a shopping trip in Boston
14. Read a photography related book once a month for 6 months
15. Read a business related book once a month (see list in side bar and also track books on GoodReads)
16. Read a book related to a topic of personal interest once a month (see list in side bar and also track books on GoodReads )
17. Paint 3 canvas paintings for our living room
18. Frame 100 photos
19. Take a homeless person out for lunch and learn about their life and their dreams
20. Bottle my own wine
21. Have my photography published
22. Go sky diving
23. Photograph a musician
24. Photograph an artist
25. Photograph a writer
26. Make strawberry & blueberry jam (07/07/09 – strawberry jam)
27. Run a marathon
28. Meet Jasmine Star
29. Take a hot yoga class (completed at Moksha Yoga in August 2009)
30. Photograph at least 5 weddings each year(2009 - 05.16.2009, 06.14.2009, 09.22.2009)
31. Become a member of Canon Professional Services
32. Learn how to make HDR Photographs (07.14.2009-Ryan's trip to Halifax, Post here)
33. Join a craft class/club
34. Do 20 consecutive pushups
35. Do 20 consecutive pull ups
36. Plant a tree
37. Take a photo a day consecutively for 2 months
38. Knit an Afghan blanket
39. Learn how to clean my camera
40. Don't talk for 1 whole day
41. Spend 6 hours blind folded
42. Bake a cheesecake
43. Learn about another religion
44. Host a social networking event
45. Solve a rubik's cube in less than 1 minute (got it to around 2 minutes)
46. Hike for 1 hour naked
47. Make my own candles (Christmas '09)
48. Make my own jewelry
49. Photograph for a not for profit organization/charity
50. Start a food fight
51. Bike the Cabot Trail
52. Have my own garden
53. Take a ballroom dance class
54. Get a facial
55. Blow glass
56. Actually send out Christmas Cards
57. Have a romantic weekend at a bed & breakfast
58. Get a touch up tattoo
59. Make my own ballpoint pen
60. Keep a journal for 1 year
61. Get another kitten
62. Make a sculpture
63. Learn how to play 1 song on piano
64. Buy a house
65. Coach soccer for a summer
66. Donate blood
67. Donate plasma
68. Bake bread from scratch
69. Spend 1 whole day in bed with Matthew
70. Do some macro photography
71. Organize our storage room (Jan. 13/10)
72. Volunteer for charity/non-profit/hospital
73. Get a 6-pack
74. Photograph 1 wedding for free for a deserving couple
75. Write a poem
76. Have Matt teach me to snowboard
77. Complete a 50 photo self portrait project
78. Have professional photos taken of Matt and I
79. Read the Bible
80. Blog a wedding within 12 hours of photographing it
81. Make plans with dad once a month (2/33 – 07.09 Harry Potter Movie, 08.09 Birthday)
82. Quit my job
83. Help a stranger with complete disregard for personal gain
84. Visit Ovens National Park
85. Go on a roller coaster
86. Photograph a hummingbird
87. Learn to french braid my own hair
88. Have a sexy girl party
89. Make corned beef and cabbage
90. Photograph a beach at sunrise
91. Photograph my grandparents
92. Photograph Matt's grandmothers
93. Organize my printed photos
94. Make a photo album of Matt and I
95. Take on a mentee (summer 09/10 – Quentina Parsons)
96. Send a balloon with a message in it into the sky
97. Complete 5 cross stitch (1/5 completed)
98. Decorate my home
99. Have a girls night with all of my close girlfriends
100. Make an official business plan.
101. Tell the people that are important to me that I love them more often (every day)

Hopefully I'll get a lot more crossed off this year. I've got a ways to go. :)

Healthy Blog

In the past I have made quite a few blog posts about my running, getting into shape and other topics not related to photography. So I have decided to start a second blog. This one I hope to make one post a day just showing how well (or not well) I ate that day, any exercise I completed and to keep track of my goals. I hope that with all of this information going on the internet it will make me more accountable and think twice before reaching for that double chocolate cookie :)

If you are interested you can read my daily health/fitness posts HERE.

Here is a sneak peak as to what tomorrows post will be about.

Operation Beautiful

Women are not told enough how beautiful they are. When I stumbled upon Operation Beautiful I fell in love. Basically it is women around the world posting anonymous notes in public places to help women feel great about themselves.

The first note I posted was in a public bathroom but there were girls in there at the same time so I didn't take a photo. But here are the second two I posted recently.

Spread the love girls! Put a smile on someones face and cheer up another beautiful woman. :)

Excited!!!

This post is going to have NOTHING to do with photography. Just a heads up ;)

I have this little obsession with books that I'm pretty sure I have confessed about before. Well some of my favorites are by Stephenie Meyer. For those of you that don't know who she is, she is the author of the Twilight series and also The Host. I have read all 5 books and I absolutely love them all. I don't think there is anyone out there that doesn't know about the Twilight books turning into a movies. If you haven't though you should go read all 4 books and then watch Twilight the movie.

November 20th, 2009 is when the second book, New Moon, comes out in theatres. I am SO excited. Here is the most recent trailer for the movie. It gives me shivers everytime I watch it!! Hahaha.



Now this was just released today on Stephenie's website... The Host has just been picked up and they are going to turn it into a movie!!!! Now a lot of people have read the Twilight books and not The Host. If you haven't, put down what you are doing right now. RIGHT NOW. And RUN to the book store or library and get The Host. It is Stephenie's first "adult" book and I will admit, it took me a while to get into it but it was soooooooo worth it. The only reason I like Twilight more than The Host is because there are more books in the Twilight series. Hahaha.

Next post will be back to your regularly scheduled programing :)

101 in 1001 | Update

I was going through one of my journals the other day and I stumbled upon my 101 in 1001 list that I wrote back in July. As I read through it I realized I was completing a lot of these goals without even knowing it. So I decided it was time to make an updated list and post it again. Here it goes:

1. Register my business
2. Launch my website
3. Photograph a baby that is less and 1 week old (hopefully do this this week)
4. Brand my business
5. Order my first sample albums
6. Attend WPPI
7. Meet someone inspiring
8. Intern w/ Jamie Delaine or Sarah Barlow
9. Create a canvas print from a vacation in Italy, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean
10. Upgrade to the Canon 5D MK II
11. Take a course/workshop in creative writing
12. Post in my blog 4 times a week (1/141)
13. Go for a shopping trip in Boston
14. Read a photography related book once a month for 6 months
15. Read a business related book once a month (2/33 - Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders, 10-10-10 by Suzy Welch)
16. Read a book related to a topic of personal interest once a month (2/33 - Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Still Alice by Lisa Genova)
17. Paint 3 canvas paintings for our living room
18. Frame 100 photos
19. Take a homeless person out for lunch and learn about their life and their dreams
20. Bottle my own wine
21. Have my photography published
22. Go sky diving
23. Photograph a musician
24. Photograph an artist
25. Photograph a writer
26. Make strawberry & blueberry jam (07/07/09 – strawberry jam)
27. Run a marathon
28. Meet Jasmine Star
29. Take a hot yoga class (completed at Moksha Yoga in August 2009)
30. Photograph at least 5 weddings each year(2009 - 05.16.2009, 06.14.2009, 09.22.2009)
31. Become a member of Canon Professional Services
32. Learn how to make HDR Photographs (07.14.2009-Ryan's trip to Halifax, Post here)
33. Join a craft class/club
34. Do 20 consecutive pushups
35. Do 20 consecutive pull ups
36. Plant a tree
37. Take a photo a day consecutively for 2 months
38. Knit an Afghan blanket
39. Learn how to clean my camera
40. Don't talk for 1 whole day
41. Spend 6 hours blind folded
42. Bake a cheesecake
43. Learn about another religion
44. Host a social networking event
45. Solve a rubik's cube in less than 1 minute (got it to around 2 minutes)
46. Hike for 1 hour naked
47. Make my own candles
48. Make my own jewelry
49. Photograph for a not for profit organization/charity
50. Start a food fight
51. Bike the Cabot Trail
52. Have my own garden
53. Take a ballroom dance class
54. Get a facial
55. Blow glass
56. Actually send out Christmas Cards
57. Have a romantic weekend at a bed & breakfast
58. Get a touch up tattoo
59. Make my own ballpoint pen
60. Keep a journal for 1 year
61. Get another kitten
62. Make a sculpture
63. Learn how to play 1 song on piano
64. Buy a house
65. Coach soccer for a summer
66. Donate blood
67. Donate plasma
68. Bake bread from scratch
69. Spend 1 whole day in bed with Matthew
70. Do some macro photography
71. Organize our storage room
72. Volunteer for charity/non-profit/hospital
73. Get a 6-pack
74. Photograph 1 wedding for free for a deserving couple
75. Write a poem
76. Have Matt teach me to snowboard
77. Complete a 50 photo self portrait project
78. Have professional photos taken of Matt and I
79. Read the Bible
80. Blog a wedding within 12 hours of photographing it
81. Make plans with dad once a month (2/33 – 07.09 Harry Potter Movie, 08.09 Birthday)
82. Quit my job
83. Help a stranger with complete disregard for personal gain
84. Visit Ovens National Park
85. Go on a roller coaster
86. Photograph a hummingbird
87. Learn to french braid my own hair
88. Have a sexy girl party
89. Make corned beef and cabbage
90. Photograph a beach at sunrise
91. Photograph my grandparents
92. Photograph Matt's grandmothers
93. Organize my printed photos
94. Make a photo album of Matt and I
95. Take on a mentee (summer ’09 – Quentina Parsons)
96. Send a balloon with a message in it into the sky
97. Complete 5 cross stitch (1/5 completed)
98. Decorate my home
99. Have a girls night with all of my close girlfriends
100. Make an official business plan.
101. Tell the people that are important to me that I love them more often (every day)

Wow. Lots more to go that's for sure. I also just crunched the math and it looks like March 26th, 2012 will be my last day of this project. It seems so far away from now but I'm sure it will creep up quickly.

Do As You Preach

As many of you readers may already know I tend to reference Jasmine Star a lot in my posts. The reason being is not only is she an amazing photographer and person, she is also one of the smartest business people I know. Well I don't personally know her but you catch my drift. One of the many things she has taught me is that you're clients will book you because they like who you are as a person and that is what will differentiate you from other photographers. If you have read her blog it is witty, funny, and very personal. Whenever I talk to other photographers I always try to emphasize this point. I always remind them that your biggest asset is you. I mean really, you are going to photograph a couple on one of the most important days of their lives (if you are a wedding photographer). This is a huge responsibility and clients will only give this to people they trust and people they connect with.

So here's my point, I need to do what I preach and blog about myself. Something really personal. Something that gives me butterflies knowing that when I push "Publish Post" it will be out in the world of the internet for potentially millions of people to read. Ok give me a break, I know my blog isn't THAT popular ;)

A week ago tomorrow I found out that my grandfather has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. The day started off as a normal start to our weekend. Matt and I had invited his mom, her boyfriend and my parents over to have beer can chicken. The best chicken I have EVER had. Definitely recommend it :) Well the first thing she did was come over and tell me that he has officially been diagnosed with dementia and most likely Alzheimers. At this point I was still cooking and getting everything ready and since we knew he was getting these tests done I didn't really think a lot about it.

The day continued as normal. We ate, chatted, cleaned the dishes, went downtown to meet up with Matt's dad, second cousin and sister, and then came home and went to bed. The following morning, I don't remember who called who but I was talking to my mom on the phone and I had asked about the test results. She said that there were 7 stages of Alzheimers and by going through the symptoms my mom thinks he is in stage 4 already. She continued to tell me the symptoms of each stage and that is when it hit me. This is real. This is actually happening. I asked her how long it would take for him to get to stage 7 and she said they have no way of knowing. It could be 1 year, it could be 5 years. At this point I am crying in bed and Matt is trying to comfort me. My mother is super upset on the other side of the phone too and she is trying to comfort me. How do you help someone feel good after finding this out? How do you look at the bright side?

After I had calmed down I realized there is so much that I don't know about this disease and if I'm going to be positive and help out as much as I can I need to learn what exactly I'm dealing with. So this week I went to Chatpers (yet again for the billionth time in the past few months) and found their section on Alzheimers. I proceeded to look through the books that they have available. Reading the back cover, the first couple of pages, the reviews online. I decided to buy "The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science" by John Hoffman and Susan Froemke and "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova.

I am hoping that after reading these books I will be able to not only understand more about Alzheimers but to be helpful with taking care of my grandfather.

Unique

Sometimes I find myself aimlessly surfing the internet. I don't do it often but when I do I always stumble upon something inspiring. Whether it is an artist's profile on DeviantArt.com or an amazing blog or photography website. Sometimes it even leads me to YouTube.com. A friend of mine told me to look up this video and I remembered to do so a couple of days ago. A lot of you may already have seen it but I was completely blown away. Check it out...



It really started me thinking about being unique. About making not only your wedding but your life different. Doing what you want with it and as one of my tattooes says "Be True" to yourself. Matt and I have started to change the way we live and I have never felt better. We have moved to eating foods that have gone through the least amount of processing as possible. I have started going to hot yoga and reading books I normally wouldn't. As corny as it sounds I feel like I have started to broaden my horizons and it is the best feeling in the world.

Just thought I would share that :)

Montreal Trip

My sister and I have played soccer for the last 10 years and every summer we have always had lots of games and tournaments to go to. I quit playing soccer a few years ago and this is the first summer my sister hasn't played so there has been no traveling for the family. Instead my mom offered to bring the three of us on a shopping trip to Montreal. It was so much fun to spend so much time with my mom and sister. We haven't done something like this in a long time. Here are some photos from our trip :)

All of us together :D Gotta love self portraits.



Saint Paul St in Old Montreal.



This is the restaurant we ate at to celebrate Mom's birthday. Such good spaghetti!!! :D



Window display for the John Lennon and Yoko Ono Bed In for peace.





Mom and Jess :)



There is a piece of the Berlin wall in part of the underground tunnels/shopping mall. Pretty cool to see!









I love street performers!





Have a good Friday!

Just Breathe

I have done yoga a few times in my life but I had never tried "hot yoga". About a month ago I caught up with a friend of mine and she mentioned that she has taken hot yoga classes before. So this past weekend I decided to go to one with her.

It was at a place called Moksha Yoga in downtown Halifax. On my way there I was really nervous because I had no idea what to expect. I was really amazed by the amount of people that were there. And of course I ended up being the mat beside the instructor. Talk about making sure my posture was proper! lol.

The room was completely silent for the full hour besides the instructors directions. The heat was waaay up there and I have never had a work out like that before in my life. It really was amazing. I got kind of light headed during some of the standing poses so I had to go back into childs pose on the floor but other than that it was great! I used to go to spin classes multiple times a week and I swear I have never sweat as much as I did during this hot yoga class.

I got their complimentary unlimited one week pass so I'm going again tomorrow morning and on Saturday. I definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking to strengthen, tone, relax, sweat, or gain flexibility.

On another note I haven't been posting much in the past week because I was in Montreal for a couple of days with my mom and sister. We took a shopping trip to focus on certain aspects of our wardrobe. I got some comfortable business outfits for when photographing weddings which is exactly what I wanted. Needless to say, there will be some photos coming up in the next few days from our trip.

Happy Wednesday!

Tall Ships

Last week my good friend Ryan stayed with us for a few days while visiting in Halifax. I mentioned our HDR photo adventure for in this post. We also decided to venture downtown for a few hours on Thursday to see the Tall Ships along the water front. I have seen them before so it wasn't really anything new but I got to try some new photo techniques and we had Beaver Tails!!!!!!!! Yummmmmmmmmmm.

Here are some photos from our Tall Ships Adventure.

There shirts were all in Cows, one of the best ice cream stores ever.











This was on one of the bikes we walked by. I couldn't help myself. lol