On Top of the World

 

So here I sit, in my new studio, it seems like a bizarre dream. Things happened so fast, and yet it still felt like an eternity to get to this point. I can still remember clearly talking to Sara at a birthday party and she said “I’ve always wanted to open a studio downtown with another photographer.”  The sentence that would change the course of both our lives. Surely she didn’t think I wouldn’t take that seriously? Then we thought, “hey let’s throw in another person, a cosmetologist, cut down on rent and really offer people an experience when they get pictures. Hair, makeup, pictures and fun girls? What could be better than that?” (The answer is nothing, nothing is better than that, because we ARE fun girls).

Thus began the journey of finding “our spot” and facing disappointment after disappointment. Just when we were ready to throw in the towel and conclude that maybe a downtown studio wasn’t in our cards, we went back to one of the very first spaces we looked at it, and knew that was the one after all. That was 2 weeks ago, fast forward MANY long days and late nights, dust and nails and paint and wood………..and here we are; on the cusp of a new journey, a new adventure, a new dream, so excited (and tired, REALLY tired, it’s been a long 2weeks). We are so ready to take this place, The Studio El Dorado, and make it a amazing. A place that people will stop by and hang out for a bit, a place that makes people feel beautiful, a place that captures moments in time for families, a place that our children can come to and build childhood memories in. A place that is ours, where hopes and dreams are coming to fruition, all because 2 girls who barely knew each other talked at a birthday party.

As I sit here, in my studio (that makes me giggle every time I say it) I’m listening to the Imagine Dragons song “On Top of the World” and the lyrics couldn’t be more fitting for our situation. (They must be, they inspired me to blog for the first time since December!!!)

‘Cause I’m on top of the world, ‘ay
I’m on top of the world, ‘ay
Waiting on this for a while now
Paying my dues to the dirt
I’ve been waiting to smile, ‘ay
Been holding it in for a while, ‘ay
Take you with me if I can

And I am, on top of the world, and you better believe this smile couldn’t get any bigger!!

Total Random “I haven’t blogged in a month” Post.

I have seriously neglected this blog for a while. Not on purpose, I have so many things to write about, it’s just finding the time to sit down and get it all out.

We had a crazy busy holiday month with Harper’s 3rd birthday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh that smile, kills me.

Christmas celebrations at the Botanica Gardens light show:

 

 

 

Christmas Eve:

Poor girl was sick on Christmas Eve. Go figure.

 

 

 

Aaaaand, I have NOTHING from Christmas day. Yup, Mommy fail. I was too busy enjoying it and being with family. I DID manage to squeeze in a photo sesh with Miss Collins:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now it’s January and with that brings a whole new set of “stuff”

*I put my 2 weeks in at the Y. Say wha-at!! I did. It wasn’t an easy decision. I have worked there since we moved here to El Dorado 4 years ago.  It’s been a great place to work and I have met SOOOO many people working there. Why did I decide to leave?

Well chill out and I will tell you!!

*I start school in 2 weeks- My online courses to finish my degree start on the 22nd. Super excited, but super scared to do online classes. I consider myself pretty computer smart; I designed my own website, I do all the stuff on this blog, I FACEBOOK!!  But seriously this online bizz has me thrown for a loop. I am blaming K-State’s website and student portal, I think IT is the one that is dumb, not me. I literally had to call up the financial aid office and ask them to walk me through what I was supposed to do, because their e-mail and website was gibberish to me. They were probably like “geez old lady, get with the program, it’s not THAT hard. Stupid non-traditional students.”

*I started watching an 8 week old baby- Landry is a doll and I have enjoyed having him so much. He is such a good baby, and I am able to get my baby fix and still sleep all night!! Pax woke up this morning (Saturday, mind you) at 7:30 and looked at me and said “we need to get up, Landry is coming.”  Ok Buddy, knock yourself out waiting for that to happen, I’m going to keep sleeping.

*I started my photography business- It’s getting really busy already. I am booked every weekend in January, newborn session scheduled for February, a WEDDING scheduled in May, and it just keeps growing. This is my true passion and I want to devote as much time and attention to this. Do I know what the future holds? Nope. Do I know if this will work out? Nope. Do I have plans to make it even bigger and better? Yup. I don’t want to divulge too much right now, as a lot of things are still getting ironed out, but there are big things… BIG THINGS in store with this photography thing and with some great people who I will potentially be working with.

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for all of this, I feel that I have found “my thing.” I was always jealous of Josh because our restaurant business was “his dream” and he loved doing it. I wondered if I would ever find anything like that for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my children, and I have loved being home with them most of the time while working at the Y. Now they are getting older and I am able to focus on me. I am not trying to be selfish and OBVIOUSLY my kids will always come first. I mean who else is going to feed, bathe, and teach them that “son of a bitch” is not a polite thing to say? Please, if you find someone, send them my way. MMMMKAY?

On that note, I leave you with this:  A comedic GENIUS that I just found today. I mean, this girl is HILAR! (That’s my shortened version of hilarious). I spent about 2 hours of my life today watching her channel on YouTube. Oh Grace, you got me girl, you got me goooood. Fist bump to you my friend.

 

You’re welcome.