Lola loves The Office

Proof that Lola also loves The Office.

My dog is so friggin’ cute. : )

 

Becoming a Photographer: Goals

As I’ve been reading, I’ve realized that having a plan for your business (or in my case, lack thereof) is very important. So to keep myself accountable, I’ve decided to outline some things I’d like to accomplish as a photographer in the upcoming year:

1) Take and complete photography classes. I’m on my way, having gotten my first Fundamentals of Imaging and Basic Photography classes under my belt. I’m very excited about my BP class; it seems like I’ll learn a lot of really important things in the class. I’m more nervous about the FOI class; it deals mainly with Photoshop, in which I have no experience. But nonetheless, it’s a very important class for me to take.

2) Buy my first professional D-SLR. I’m pretty sure that it will be the Canon 40D, based upon some reviews and advice from my mentor Anne Ruthmann. Although the Rebel xti is more in my price range, I think it would be a better business decision to get a camera that is actually in the professional category.

3) Shoot my first wedding. Once again, I look to Anne to help me out on this one. I’m set to second-shoot with her on May 10 at a wedding in Indianapolis. I may do a second one with her if time allows, but this is a huge opportunity for me. I get to learn from Anne and see how a real wedding goes from a photographer’s perspective, but she is the one who has the most responsibility. This will take a lot of stress (hopefully) off of my shoulders when I do finally take on a wedding on my own.

4) Build a portfolio. I have some people who have expressed a desire to be photographed, so for my assignments in my classes, I will likely look to them as my subjects. I also am doing a maternity shoot for my sister in law, who is due in April. I want to get a variety of experiences under my belt so I can learn to be creative and comfortable in any shooting situation. My focus will be people, but I also definitely want to dabble in pets. I absolutely love my dog and love taking photos of her, and I’ve also noticed that this area does not have ANY pet photographers.

5) Build the foundation for my business. This means coming up with a logo, web site/blog, budget, and deciding how much I will charge. I know this will mean I have to manage my time really well since I will still have a full-time job during the early stages of the business. I also need to learn about the process of editing the photos and how to get people to buy products from me. This is the most important part, and likely the part I know the least about. But thankfully, Tyler is a great businessman and Anne is going to allow me to pick her brain over some really great Indian food in Terre Haute in a week; I want to soak in everything she has to say!

6) Book my first client. This is a long shot in my mind, but I suppose completely doable. I have to have faith and confidence in myself that I can do this. I want to be someone that clients can not only rely on as a photographer, but also as a friend. Relationships are SO important, and it all has to start somewhere!

I may add to the list once I think about it some more. But for right now, these are the most important that come to mind. Anyone else have suggestions for an apsiring photographer?

 

Highs and Lows of 2007 and a Fast-Forward to 2008

Highs:

1) Finishing the Evansville Half Marathon without passing out. As many of you know, I wasn’t that lucky in 2006. And considering how hot the weather was in October this year, this is definitely something to be proud of.

2) Tyler’s band, BorrowedTime, got off to a good start. They played a handful of local shows and one in Columbus, Indiana. Tyler, BJ, and Cassie are the core members and they’ve had some turnover throughout the year. As of now, it’s Tyler on drums, BJ on vocals and lead guitar, Cassie on vocals and accoustic guitar, Logan on the saxophone, and Daniel (aka Dandy) on bass.

3) I really grew spiritually. Much of this is thanks to a little book called Captivating but mostly to some really awesome, authentic Christians in my life. I’m even unofficially getting the youth group at our new church, Sojourn Newburgh, off to a start. I’m very excited about what the future for this church holds.

4) Tyler and I celebrated our second anniversary with a trip to St. Pete Beach, Florida. We had some rough times in our first two years, but we made it through. And we’re stronger than ever. It was a great trip, but we found out we’re kind of boring when we don’t vacation with at least one other couple.

5) We found out Tyler’s sister is pregnant (I can’t WAIT to be an aunt!). It’s a girl and her name is Elizabeth and she’ll be here in April! We were totally shocked by this because Adam and Kyla swore they’d never have kids. In fact, when Tyler’s parents tell people they’re going to be grandparents, everyone assumes it’s Tyler and I who are expecting.

6) I earned some extra income by writing/photographing for the Courier & Press and also by doing some copy editing. There were some really fun stories that I was pretty proud of and that allowed me to be creative. It was a lot of work at times, but I was glad to earn the extra money so I could buy Tyler an iPod Touch for Christmas.

7) I went on Accutane for my acne. It sucked that I had to do it, and there were times that I hated the medicine with a passion (dry skin, always thirsty, blurred vision, fatigue), but I’ve been off of it for about 3 weeks now, and my face is clearer than it’s ever been. I’m praying that my face stays clear, because it was a lot of effort and it was NOT cheap.

8) I got to go home for Christmas. I hadn’t been up north since May so the trip was long overdue. It was great to see my family (although I only got to see my mom’s side) and share in a tradition that was such a huge part of my childhood. There was nothing like Christmas at the Jones’.

Lows:

1) Tyler’s papaw had a decline in health, thanks to Parkinson’s and Alzheimers. He is now in a nursing home, where we don’t get to see him too often because of his eating and sleeping schedule. I would love nothing more than for him to have a complete turnaround and get better. It saddens me to see a man once so full of life ravaged by these horrible diseases.

2) My allergies were horrible this year. I had to take several days off to take care of them and to basically sleep them off. I’ve been on Allegra for over a year and it still didn’t help. I’ll soon be going on allergy shots soon, which I’m not too thrilled about.

3) I was really sick for about three weeks. In fact, today is the first day that I actually feel better than 90%. This not only made me cranky at home, but also really made me miss a lot of work and get off of my running routine. It was a nasty virus that I just couldn’t shake.

4) I have lost touch with a lot of friends I hold very dear. Life is busy, plain and simple. But that’s no excuse to forget about friends who have made you who you are.

5) We didn’t have any measurable amount of snow. My poor Tyler’s only wish was to have snow to go out and play in. Every time we’d have snow in the forecast, he’d wake up in the morning and check outside, only to be disappointed. It would be great to have a big snow so we could go out and throw snowballs at each other and also so Lola could try to eat all the snow in sight. Seriously, she has her tongue out the entire time just licking at the snow. It’s pretty cute.

Up for 2008:

1) I start classes at Ivy Tech in January. I’ll be going back so I can learn the basics of photography and hopefully build up a clientele so I can have a business. It would be great to be able to stay at home when I’m a mom (one day).

2) Borrowed Time will record a demo in Nashville in January. They will spend an entire weekend as well as the following Monday recording about 5 songs. (I’ll spend much of my time taking pictures and scrapbooking with Rachel.) The band hopes to make it in the lineup for some summer festivals. It would be Tyler’s dream come true.

3) I’ll be running the 500 Festival Mini Marathon (the biggest half marathon and 8th-largest road race in America) in Indy with my college friend Jaimie. She currently lives in DC where she is a law student, but she’ll be coming back to practice law and live in Indy a couple weeks before the race. I’m really looking forward to connecting with her and catching up on things. 

4) We’ll be going to Hawaii for our vacation. A woman I work with is graciously letting us stay in the home she owns on Oahu - for free. I’ve already purchased all the plane tickets and booked our hotel for while we are in Maui for one night. We’ll be going with BJ and Rachel, so it should be a lot of fun.

5) I’ll be doing less work on the side so I can focus on family and friends. This means turning down some stories, but it will be worth it. I haven’t had a chance to breathe lately.

6) Sojourn Newburgh will launch at the beginning of the year. New year, new location, and a lot of faith in what God is doing we hope will equal helping to change the lives of people in the area. We could certainly use prayer, but if you’d like to give, you can do so online at www.thesojourn.org. I’m going to be trying to find interesting ways to decorate the youth room, so if you have ideas, let me know. Right now, I’m thinking chalkboard paint on the walls.

I may add some more later as they come to me, so check back.

 

Halloween at the Neff’s…

Managed to be pretty uneventful again this year. Only three trick-or-treaters…which is three more than last year. Oh well…that means lots of candy leftover for us. At least Lola looked cute dressed in her witch costume!

 

Mini Vacation to Pigeon Forge

I took a little hiatus from blogging because I went with Tyler’s family (mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law) on a mini vacation to Pigeon Forge. We left Sunday and got back Wednesday evening. It was so fantastic! I’ve needed to get away from work for a while. I love my job, but I am always able to come back to it with renewed enthusiasm after I’ve been able to get away and re-energize myself.

We stayed in Pigeon Forge at a really, really nice EconoLodge. Tyler’s parents paid for the hotel rooms, which had heart-shaped jacuzzis in them. We definitely took advantage of that. I have been so sore from running and I’ve been wanting a day at the spa, but this was a nice substitute. I also didn’t go running the entire time I was there; I felt guilty about it, but I ran on fresh legs for the first time yesterday (and had my fastest 5-mile run yet, so it must have been what I needed).

The thing Tyler and I were most excited about, though? Cable! We don’t have cable at home because we just don’t think it’s a necessary expense and will just make us lazy. The three days with the cable proved we would be couch potatoes if we had it. We enjoyed watching The Girls Next Door (one of our guilty pleasures), MTV music videos, Next Top Model (me moreso than Tyler) and this interesting cooking show.

We did a lot of shopping, too. Pigeon Forge has a Nike Clearance Store (muuuuch cheaper than Nike Outlets, where you really don’t get a deal) and when I saw the prices they had, you would have though I was in heaven. There were so many good deals, it was hard to narrow my choices. I bought a running top, and my mother- and father-in-law bought me a shirt that says “Catch Me If You Can,” a pair of running shorts and a running bra, all for my birthday. Tyler bought a really nice jacket for $20. You can’t even get those prices on eBay!

We went to Gatlinburg on Tuesday, too. We ate at the Pancake Pantry and had some amazing pancakes, eggs and bacon. Then we walked the shops. Tyler purchased a $6 pair of aviator sunglasses. He looks pretty hot in them, if I do say so myself. Then Tyler and I went up on the sky lift with his sister Kyla and his dad Kerry. I was a little nervous on the way up; all that’s holding the seat to the cable is a little hook welded onto it. It would be a long, hard fall if something went wrong. But the view at the top was worth the nervousness. I just love the mountains; seeing all the homes that peeked through the trees made me very jealous of the people who live there. After that, we went to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum. Definitely some interesting things in there. You can learn a lot of things that never make it into the history books.

That night, we went to dinner and then to have some fun as a family. Tyler and I rode the go-carts. It was such a blast! They were really fast ones and the course had a couple big drop offs that were fun. It’s so great when he and I can be silly with each other. We really should have more times like that. We played miniature golf afterwards. I’ve never seen my mother in law laugh so hard in all my life. It really was such a great time and brought us all a lot closer.

On our way home, my mother in law Lana had to stop at the Jewelry Television Gem Store in Knoxville. She watches Jewelry Television religiously (so much that she has the logo burned into their big-screen television at home) so she was very anxious to be able to stop in. She got a ring there, and while she was looking Tyler and I went to the new Fork’s Drum Closet. He looked at cymbals there. He’s needing a new one since one has a crack in it. Since money is always tight, he didn’t buy one; he’s such a deal-shopper!

We were glad to get back home Wednesday. We missed our baby Lola. Our friends Eric and Angela kept her while we were gone. She barked every night, so they had to bring her back to our house when they would go to bed so they could get some sleep. We gave her a bath to get the cat dander off of her since Tyler is so allergic. She was so glad to have us home.

All in all, it was a great time. There were some tense times with conflicting personalities, but overall everyone got along. I ate way too much unhealthy food, so my body has let me know it the past couple days. Most importantly, Tyler and I were able to have some quality time together. I was so happy that we were able to put all the stress of the daily grind behind us and focus on one another. Made me even more happy that I married him; I am one lucky girl to have a man as good as him.

I took tons of pictures, but they’re on my computer at home, so eventually I will post some of them on here.

 

Who you callin’ “chicken”?

We went over to our friends’ Eric and Angela’s house last night because they are keeping Lola when we go to Gatlinburg. We wanted to see how Lola would handle staying there with their cats, which they didn’t have last time she stayed with them. This is how it went most of the evening:

She just couldn’t understand 1) what they were and 2) why they wouldn’t play.

Then she put on the cats’ Halloween costume. Too cute for words: