New Beginnings | Jackson, MI Portrait Photographer

I tend to shy away from putting personal things on my blog, but sometimes you've got to get things off your chest. So without getting into too much detail, this up-cycled art explains my life in the past year perfectly. The moment I saw it on The Reclaimed Canvas' Facebook, I knew I had to have it as a constant reminder to keep pushing forward no matter what life throws at me. I have pretty much started my life over and it's completely for the better. 

The first half of the year I was absent a lot from the online world. I put everything on the back burner to focus on my final semester of school. My graphic design degree required my full attention to finish projects on time and build up my portfolio for the Student Gala, which is a final public presentation of ourselves, our brand, and our work. Talk about stress! Coffee and I had an amazing relationship during all of that. So when school was finally over, I was able to focus more on my photography. I realized that after taking that much time off, there was some serious work that needed to be done on my business, on both the front end and behind the scenes. I used my new found knowledge to give Natty J Photography a makeover (still a work in progress, but it's getting there). Also, I updated all my paperwork which was a much bigger task than I had expected, but now that it's done it's smooth sailing!

About two months ago now, I started my journey to become a healthier me. I signed up for my first 5k along with my coworkers who are regularly active. I'll admit, I was more scared than excited in the beginning and I was convinced that I was going to fall over and die trying to do it. The Couch to 5k program gave me a shred of confidence that it could be done in the 9 weeks I had remaining until the run (the program is 10 weeks, but I didn't think one week would make or break me). I downloaded MyFitnessPal and the Nike Running app to help keep track of things. It was an eyeopener to see how much food I was consuming (gross!), but that was easy to get under control. I have never been an athletic person, pretty much to get me to run I had to be running for my life. But I psyched myself up and began running three times a week. I joined the YMCA and take part in the classes they have to offer such as yoga, TRX (here's a Youtube video that shows what it is, we never do anything past the "easy" level which is still rather hard for me), and workout Boot Camp. The instructors have been crucial to my success, knowing when to push me harder and teaching me how to modify for my strength level. It's been an amazing journey so far and I'm so incredibly thankful for having them around to help. I'm down 13.8lbs so far and counting. I know I'll get there, but it will be a marathon, not a sprint.

This is our team just after finishing The Color Run 5k. Photo courtesy of my dad.