1.1.11

Ahhhh New Years Day. I have always loved New Years. A frest start, a clean slate! And for approximately 4 weeks every January, I am the most motivated, healthy, organized momma you have ever met. My house is immaculate, my laundry is all done because I have vowed to do 2 loads a day come hell or high water, my kids are well behaved because there is a fresssh chore chart on the fridge. Their home work is all done because I have cut their t.v. time down to 2 hours a day. My office looks like it is straight out of the IKEA catalog with bins and file folders (all color coordinated, mind you.) I save every receipt, all of my appointments are meticulousy written in my calendar AND simultaneously entered into my blackberry. I make my annual shopping trip to Fresh Market for all of the new healthy, delicious meals I'm gonna make my family. Yearly trip to the local Weight Watchers, done. Skin exfoliated, check. Hair did, check. Facial, check. (Because I'm going to start taking better care of ME, dangit.) I have decided I will never, ever yell at my kids ever again and have bought a book on parenting AND anger management because I am going to be the best mom EVER and never lose my temper again and use positive reinforcement DAILY.................................... And then somewhere around the last week of January/first week of February all of my fabulous good intentions start to slowwwly unravel and the chaos that is my life inevitably begins to creep back in. My kitchen table and desk gradually disappear under mounds of junk mail, bills, and homework. My kids are watching their 8th episode of iCarly while eating Happy Meals and arguing as I yell from the kitchen to CUT IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My calendar and phone are lost somewhere in the abyss that is my car. I havent shaved my legs OR exfoliated in 2 weeks and my hair is pulled back off my face with the elastic end of a latex glove. (You fellow nurses know what I'm talkin about.) And all of my New Years resolutions are giant.epic.failures. And guess what?????? Who cares!!! I'm human! Woohoo!! Which means, THANK GOD I don't have to be perfect!!!! And guess what else?? New Years Resolutions? You get to make them again next year, and the year after that and the year after that and the.....you get the idea. So, would I love to be THAT mom. The one that cooks organic meals for my kids as I read them Shakespeare and give them violin lessons at the same time? The business owner that knows where all of my receipts are and how to to make the most of my tax write-offs and the best way to market myself and still be able to keep my artisitc vision and blah blah blah blah. The wife that always feels sexy and pretty and skinny and makes myself a priority because I know that taking better care of me means taking better care of my family. Absa-freakin-lutely!!! Who wouldn't want to be that woman!! But pssst.... Little secret. That woman doesn't exist. And if she does.....she is probably really boring or has bad breath or there is SOMETHING wrong with her!! My point is....no one is perfect. No one...not your neighbor down the street whose kids are always dressed from head to toe in the latest Gap kids clothes and always say please and thank you. Not the mom driving the SUV that is at every.single.class.party with fresh baked goods and skinny jeans.(Not that I know anyone like that or anything....ugh.) Not the co-worker that has 5 kids and never raises her voice or loses her patience or gossips and always, ALWAYS has something great to say in the sales meeting. None.of.them.are.perfect. We all struggle. As women/moms/business owners/co-workers/wives/daughters/sisters. We ALL struggle. But this year.....I'm going to try focusing on all of the things that I do right instead of all of the things that I do wrong. Do I have TONS of things to improve on? Absolutely. Will I continue to make unrealistic New Years resoltutions every year? You betcha! But am I gonna beat myself into the ground if I'm not a size 4 by May? or if I don't meet this or that sales goal by the end of the first quarter???? Not this year kids! Because I've learned that I don't have to be perfect at anything. Not motherhood, not at photography, not at being a wife, not at being a friend. None of it. I can just do my best and leave it at that. BooYAH. It's only taken me about 35 years to learn that lesson.
So enough of that hoopla..... to catch you up on the personal side of things.....We are all settled in to our new home in my old neighborhood of Glendale. I can't even tell you how good it feels to be back. I love that I get to show my kiddos all the things that I loved about this area when I was growing up. I love that they go to the same school that I went to when I was their age. I love passing the old firehouse everyday and going to the square. I love pointing out to them the house that I used to live in on the railroad tracks. Who knew that the sound of a train whistle in the middle of the night could be so comforting? Of course, I miss my Indiana girls..but there is nothing like coming home.
On the business side of things....Whew. What an insanely crazy, fun and enlightening first year!! To say that I have learned alot would be the understatement of the decade. I have met some of the most fantastic people throughout this crazy photographic journey. I have made mistakes, taken risks, grown as an artist, fallen flat on my face and gotten up and brushed myself off and kept right on going. (Not only using that as a metaphor.... I really did fall flat on my face at a shoot. True story. Just ask Colleen S.) I can only hope that all of you will continue with me on this journey in 2011. Thank you just doesn't seem to cut it. I am unbelievably grateful to all of the wonderful clients, friends and fellow photographers that I have met this year. You have made every bit of this craziness worth it.
Keep a lookout over the next week or so as the new blogsite gets up and running. All of the 2011 pricing/session/custom frame info will be listed there. Thanks again for coming along for this ride with me. Heres to hoping for continued success and most importantly, balance in 2011. :)