Well today is my birthday. I am officially 26 years old today. I’m honestly not a fan of celebrating my birthday. It’s not because I dislike that I’m getting older or anything like that. I just really don’t like being the center of attention. (Perhaps an insight as to why I became a photographer haha.)

But I figure since I’ve officially reached a new year and a new mile marker, it might be fun to share with you what I’m proud of my 25 year old self for and what I’m hoping my 26 year old self will achieve. Let’s start with how far I’ve come:

• Year 3 and I’m still in business.
When I started this business adventure 3 years ago, I’ll admit I didn’t really know what all was going to be required. I just jumped in headfirst and threw myself entirely into it. I didn’t know how much paperwork would be involved or how many hours I’d end up working or how difficult it can be just to figure out the pricing of your products or to try and convey that your shooting style isn’t what people are used to. But it’s been three years and I’m still here. While that is largely because of you wonderful people, I am also proud of my own ability to adapt to the situation and to persevere through some of the initial struggles. So yay me! 🙂

• I’ve stood up for myself at least twice last year.
25 year old Stephanie had some rough patches last year, but we survived them. I was feeling used by a friend and for the first time, instead of continuing to let it happen – I decided to stand up for myself. I told her how I felt. I wasn’t mad or angry or really expecting everything to change. I just wanted her to know how she made me feel. After all, how can I expect someone to know how I feel, if I don’t tell them. People can’t read minds. Long story short – she walked away. I tried, and I dwelt on it a long time because I had considered her one of my best friends. But out of all of that. I came to a greater understanding of what makes a healthy relationship and that I can stand up for myself. And I should. I’m a good person and I deserve friends who treat me right. So I’m really proud of myself for that.
I also stood up for myself professionally at least once last year. It’s hard for me to do because I like helping people. But I am a business and I need to stick to my guns when it comes to what I’m willing and able to do for people.

• We’ve finished a couple of house projects & started some new ones
If you know anything about where I live. You’ll know that Ryan and I bought a little house out in the country. We’ve got cornfields on two sides and nice wide open spaces. We love it! The only downfall is that the house needs a LOT of work… I mean a LOT! And we can only afford to do so much at a time. But this past year, after three years of working on it, we’ve finally finished the bathroom remodel. It was in desperate need of updating and more importantly repairs. There was a lot of mold damage to the walls and floor. So we fixed all that, installed a ceiling fan, added a linen closet and got rid of that jerry-rigged curtain rod by boxing in the shower. I think it looks MUCH nicer now.

If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I’ve been doing some DIY projects. Like my dresser with the newly updated interior on the doors:
And now we are on to redoing our kitchen. So here’s the before and so far pictures for that:

• Made some wonderful friends in the photography community
25 year old Stephanie had some amazing opportunities. I got to go to Escalate LIVE last year and I met some of my photography idols! It was an awesome experience. Even now – I still have a hard time believing that I ate lunch and chatted with Vickie Taufer, Tamara Lackey, Julia Woods, & Lori Nordstrom. Such a wonderful group of people. What’s even more amazing is that these wonderful people remember me and have given me advice when I really needed it. Jed Taufer in particular has been an amazing friend to me, always responding to my emails and willing to offer up advice when I’m in a pickle.
And now I’ve finally found some fellow photographers near me who share my same passion and don’t feel threatened by sharing ideas with each other. Rachael of Rachael Marie Photography in Bloomington is a friend I met at Escalate Live and I’m so glad that we’ve stayed in contact and have gotten to go to lunch a couple times. She is a wonderful woman definitely destined for success. Sarah of Sarah Jane Photography here in Decatur has also become a fantastic friend. We’ve been working together on some things and I’m looking forward to working with her some more. And the crazy thing is – we all work differently and have different ideas and goals in mind. It’s just fun to hear a different perspective and to learn about a different approach and to be able to discuss ideas with someone in the same field makes a huge difference!

Well now that we’ve covered some of the things I’m most proud of from being 25, here’s some things I hope to achieve as a 26 year old:

• Get Super Organized
This has multiple meanings. Firstly, I REALLY want to get my house organized… like everything. We have very limited storage and with a basement that takes on water – it’s kind of wasted space. So I’ve got tons of ideas for increasing storage in the upstairs, but I need to come up with some kind of organization method until we can get to a point where we can create that extra storage space. If I could just get everything put away once – I think it would be easier to keep it that way.
I’m  also wanting to organize some of my business things a little differently. I’ve come to realize that it would be incredibly beneficial for me to make one booklet of some kind for the studio that has a complete break down of all my pricing. It’d be nice to have an actual book that lists print prices, gallery wraps, wedding albums, photo books, jewelry, photo videos, … everything. So I’m working on that. In addition to the organized booklet of pricing. My goal for next year is to have a full calendar organized out with deals mapped and events set up so that I’m set for the whole year and I don’t have to stress out about planning the next event… because it’s already planned.

• Lose Some Weight
I’ve spent the past three years, doing my darnedest to keep the focus off of counting calories, over exercising, etc. I’ve lived that life and it’s exhausting. But I know that I need to lose some weight. And this year should be the year that I do that. So I’m hoping that by this time next year – you’ll be seeing photos of a lighter version of me. 😉

• Make my Video
I’ve been talking forever now about putting together this video for my website, and I still have every intention of doing it.The problem originally was I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with it. If I just wanted video of me shooting my clients or me talking, interview style, or what. But I finally have a clear idea! I know what I want! It’s all up in my noggin and I’m ready to start working out the details. So my goal for this year will be to get my video put together. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about it! 🙂

So that’s kind of where I am right now. And where I hope to go. I hope it was at least a little fun or entertaining to read. Have an awesome Wednesday!

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