Seasons change…

I’m so ready for fall. For layered clothes. Beautiful fall foliage. For pumpkin seeds, warm apple cider, and bundling up in blankets!

This spring and summer has been good, and we had a wonderful vacation with the Johnson gang. I’ve enjoyed this summer, but I’m just soooo ready for a change of pace.

Fall has always been my favorite season and I can’t hide my loyalty to the season much longer.
It is only in the past two weeks that I’ve begun complaining about things like the temperature, awful red bugs, or my fair skin being at risk. I’ve been pretty patient and even got into the spirit of it all by planting Vincas in our flower bed with Wesley. I photographed vbs at church and made new friends. I’m feeling more involved and connected with people from our small group. I’m praying that some of the connections I made will help lead me closer to a photography job in Dallas or rather more jobs for my own business. There are some exciting possibilities. I’m investigating them now that we have returned from vacation.I’ve taken lots of pictures in the past few months and gotten good practice using my new equipment and newly learned skills in PhotoShop.

 

 

I continue to be on the look out for opportunities to serve at church and hope to continue meeting people and making connections God will use. I know He’ll provide something in HIS timing as far as jobs go. I am trying to learn to ignore what other people think or ignorantly assume my life may look like when I say I do photography and run an online vintage clothing store. They tend to treat me like it’s not a real job and that I’m lazy. Those people just don’t know the hard work that goes into both things. It’s patience that I am working on. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a wife and homemaker. But I don’t really want to be a mom for a good 3 or 4 years. And I think photography is something I may be able to continue even when I do start having children, but only time will tell. I pray that I become more motivated and find success with my photography business and etsy shop. I’m also not just praying about it. I’m doing hard work, learning a lot, and I have goals I’m working towards. Part of that includes taking lots of photos, editing lots of photos, looking at a lot of other websites for inspiration to decide what mine needs to look like, and making a business plan for my photography business. Most people don’t know how long all this takes to actually take off, or become successful or how dedicated and hard working you have to be to follow through and make these things happen.

I’d love to see myself gain more experience with photography and take a photography business class. My dream is to have a home photography studio. I am passionate about the idea of God using that gift He gave me to bless others. If I can bring Him glory through my photography then that is what I’d consider a successful career in that field. I could care less about the money because money isn’t what I’m after in life. I think for me it’s about loving well and hopefully letting my life be a reflection of God’s heart. I am not an idiot, and I understand that you need money to function. But I also am not craving it and seeking it for happiness. I see so many people going after careers and money as if that will fulfill them and they are just miserable. It’s sad to watch.

Another thing I’ve begun this summer is opening an etsy shop online and obviously running that from home. It’s a productive use of my free time whenever I’m done with my daily online job searching, general house keeping, and such. I even made my first sale!!!

It wasn’t a huge deal, but it felt pretty exciting! I am considering trying to sell prints of my photography on there. I’ve seen many successful photography shops through etsy. My shop name is Mary’s Reliquaries (https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarysReliquaries) and boy was it hard to find a shop name that wasn’t already taken. Wes came up with it for me and when I realized it was free to use I quickly grabbed it up. It rhymes, is catchy, and will easily be inclusive of a variety of types of listings. I didn’t want to be stuck with a shop name specifically for just clothing in case I include my photography, art, or other vintage items in the future. For now there are mostly vintage clothing listings. I am sketching up ideas for a store dashboard /banner currently. Once I decide I like my design I’ll have Wes scan it in and use his wacom tablet to give it a watercolor font and graphic designer touch.

Wes even found the perfect summer candle that I’ve fallen in love with. I recommend you try it out. It’s a Mainstays candle and the scent is Peach & Mango. It’s such a party for the nostrils.

But now I am ready to change seasons! Like, now. So how about I wake up and it’s fall??? (Yes, pleeeeease??? Amen)

Trying it out. Feb 22, 2012

I’m not the best with words, but I value when others attempt at sharing things on their heart. I suppose I will attempt sharing my heart from time to time on here.

There are a lot of things changing around me right now. This year I will experience change in many ways that I never have before. I must admit that I’m excited to see God at work in my life and see where he takes me. Knowing that I get to share my life with Wes is so exciting to me. To be able to serve others along side my best friend makes my heart swell up with joy. I’m so thankful that God allowed our friendship to develop for over 4.5 years into something so full of life. I imagine God watching Wes and I from above through the years and smiling because he knew that all the things we were going through were allowing us to build trust and love. Neither of us really catching His plan until it was time. God is amazing at timing..at everything. And we are SO lost without Him.

Sometimes change looks sad and so it can begin to feel like it’s a negative thing, but time and time again I am reminded that change can be an amazing thing, too. He uses EVERYTHING. He needs to be our EVERYTHING.

I want to glorify my Father with the change in my life. With each new leaf I know there is a blessing from God and a lesson to be had. My job is to stay hopeful and trust in HIM above all else.

Before my relationship with Wes and before all the desires of my heart I must put God first. I must be pursuing Him. When I lose that focus I start to wonder… why am I struggling right now???  (stupid me) Duh, I need to work on my relationship with God. For me to be able to fully give myself to others and let God use me; I’ve got to be working on my relationship with God first. Without God I am giving them me, and my love isn’t good enough. My love is nothing without God. With all this change happening I feel like it’s vital to stay in tune with God. It’s so easy to get discouraged because change can be very stressful; even in the midst of knowing God is at work.

I pray for my friends and family who are all experiencing a lot of change and will continue to in the months ahead.