So busy

Life has been different lately. I almost put "awesome" or "great"...but those words just wouldn't describe things well enough. I mean, in a nutshell, my life has always been awesome and great. We own our own home, our daughter is so full of laughter and cuteness, we are comfortable financially, the Gospel is rich in our lives...the list goes on and on. If you got right down to the nitty gritty, though, the last month of life, things have just been different. Lets talk about why.

My entire life I've been artistic. I mean, we're talking drive-my-mother-crazy-artistic. I wanted to be a painter, a singer, a dancer, a composer, a sculptor, a photographer...you name it! The arts were BURSTING from me, and I couldn't get enough. Though I only dabbled in each thing little by little. Once out of highschool, I realized that I'd be most successful with an education somehow related to the arts. I tried going to a university (BYU) and majored in Psychology. But truth be told, I wasn't interested enough in what I was studying to actually go to my classes. After two years, I knew it wasn't for me. Goodbye, BYU!

So, what could I do that I would love? Well, I had been cutting and styling hair for years already, and doing make up for others for as long as I could remember. Why not get licensed and make money doing what I loved? So I went to Cosmetology school. SO HARD. Long hours, never ending days, and I couldn't miss or I'd be dropped from the program. A program that was in high demand and VERY hard to get a spot in (at least at my school). But alas, I was able to stick it out. It's the hardest, most rewarding educational experience yet. Don't get me wrong - the doing hair part was awesome and usually easy enough, but the comittment part was rough. Anyway, I went to state board (1 week after I got married), took (and passed) my test (WITH PNEUMONIA, no less) and got my license in the mail a month later. Totally surreal. I worked in a couple of salons, trying to find the "right" place for me. It wasn't easy! Every salon is soooooo different, you really wouldn't believe it. So then I got pregnant. And terribly sick. And couldn't budge an inch (there is still a body length indentation on my couch where I layed for 9 months straight). After having Mckenzi, I thought I'd be able to pick up where I left off and really dig in in a salon. Honestly, I could do that today if I wanted to. But, I like my kid way too much to leave her more than 3 hours at a time, and lets face it...that would give me MAYBE 1 and a half clients (assuming they were getting chemical services). Not worth it! I still have clients here or there that I work with from home...but it isn't easy. Finding a sitter, working around THEIR schedule...it's too hard.

So, I HAD to do something else to satisfy my need to be artsy. I started making hair bows and cutesy little girl stuff. And then I'm like, "wow, two hours on this bow and I'm gonna sell it for $2? This is awesome." Heather and I had started a small company called Mae and Michael Designs, and we'd plan to launch a site to sell our crafts on. It didn't get far. Heather got pregnant again, and things got put on the back burner.

Over the summer I decided it was time to start a larger, more serious venture. Photography! I've never been able to do much with this, because I've never had money to invest and without money, there's just no way to get started. A few years ago, before professional dslr cameras were available in kits to the masses at awesome prices, Neal got me an awesome top of the line (for it's time) Kodak p880. It was super hard for me to learn, but took awesome pictures nonetheless. I was able to figure out how to actually use a camera, and take decent pictures. Over the summer, I realized that we're in an awesome place for me to start venturing out into my love for photography. So, Neal bought me my Canon Rebel, which I love. I talked to my sister Heather about starting something up, and now here we are. She got her own Canon Rebel, she's learning all about the photography world with me, and has even decided to get her degree in Photography! Go Heather. We'll be starting classes this Spring, though my intent is not to get a degree. I just wanna LEEEEARN!

Anyway, I never realized how quickly our business would pick up. We stole the concept from our original design company, and turned it from Mae and Michael Designs to Mae Michael Photography. We've officially had 10 photo shoots in the short span of 1 month!! Go us! You can see our shoots here: MaeMichaelPhotography.blogspot.com.

So, that's why life is different! Instead of spending my days strictly on being a mom (which is awesome and rewarding entirely on it's own), I get to spend some days doing something that I absolutely LOVE, and I can spend my evenings (while boogers are in bed) editing pictures and being constructive. I feel better about myself now that I'm actually DOING something again. This is good! Life is good.