J & M What's Next Tour!

I know, I know..this post is long over due but better late than never right? Back in January I had the honor and pleasure of attending Justin & Mary Marantz's What's Next Tour. They stopped in several cities through out the US and good'ole NYC was one :-)

I have attended their Spread the Love Tour and they are just so inspiring so I knew that this tour would be just as inspiring, if not more and all I can say is it was truly what I needed to get my rear moving in the right direction! Hearing Mary speak is so comforting that you are totally consumed by her words and she definitely had some keys words that have stuck with me to this day.

Regret - Why regret when you're still living? You have to live in the now. Make the choice to step out of the shadows and stop watching someone else live your dreams. Don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled, because that could be the road that will lead you to the great things. Make the choice to not regret the choices that you’ve made.

Failure - You will fail! This is life and we will all fail. You just have to remember that every time we fail, we get stronger. How else will we learn from our mistakes if we don’t fail at it the first time? You cannot let failure stand in the way of your dreams. Everyone is afraid of failing, of not being good enough, but little do you know that this thing you’re so afraid of, is just a bump in the road. Fail Forward: Action trumps fear. Fear lies and says “I can’t. I can’t, I can’t” until you do!

Rejection - Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle because you will eventually get there. We have all been there and feeling rejected doesn’t feel good. We begin to second guess ourselves when we know we are good enough but what we need to do is allow that rejection to move us forward and not stay “safe”. How is “safe” working out for you?

Fear - We are afraid to step out of the shadows because we will be criticized! What we fail to realize is that if you’re not being criticized you’re not working hard enough and you’re not doing anything exciting enough. You want to be criticized!

All of this which when written on paper may not seem like a big deal, really is. Its truly helped me to accept that it's ok to have these feelings but I can't allow it to stop me from living my dream. Thank you Mary and Justin for allowing me the opportunity to learn from you. Although it's so much easier to give up then move forward, I have to keep on living my life and making my dreams come true for me. I am giving myself permission to chase my dreams!





Yes, totally got busted snapping away by Ashley of Ashley Therese Photography, she is too cool!


We each had to get up and write our fears on the board!




The Lighting portion of the Tour was equally as inspiring! Justin totally rocked it out.






Got to catch up with my girl Candice! Great seeing you :-)

"Sometimes the biggest critic in your life is you!"

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Judie

Baby Annaleigh

Before the new year I had the chance to photograph this precious little angel. Annaleigh was a joy to be around and her smile was contagious!















Have a great Wednesday!

Judie

Oh Tennessee how I love thee!

Back in late August I had the opportunity to visit my cousin and her hubby at their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was also the first time I met the handsome August!
As I play catch up with tons of images from late summer I leave you with these. I have to say I have not had a real Pulled Pork Sandwich until I visited TN. OMG! I can't wait until my next visit and the best part is that my hubs will be with me to share the experience :-)

The Pulled Pork melted perfectly it was so tender and the hush puppies....delish!


The Douglas Dam








Yep, we went Antiquing!

Catching my breath...

First let me start off by saying that my name is Judie and I am a huge procrastinator. There are two sessions for me to blog about and I haven't even begun. I know I have been missing in action for a bit and for that I apologize. Since my last post there have been a few matters that I have been dealing with both personal and with my business. On the personal end, all I can say is things will work itself out, they always do. I only wish I could be as optimistic about my business.

It has been a quite a journey for me trying to get my photography business up and running but of course, life happens and other matters take priority so my business takes a back seat. So far 2012 was definitely a slow year for me and I can honestly say that it didn't sit well with me. I realized that I absolutely love to work! And so this slow season for me has really made me question my abilities. I know I shouldn't feel this way and I have complete confidence in myself but I am in a place where I lack motivation. I have met so many wonderful people this past year and they have come so far and I am extremely proud of them. They are able to make their business a full time one and so I think that that is where I lose faith in myself. My busy schedule at my day job limits my time to shoot during the week so I only have the weekends and being a newlywed I struggle with not wanting to be apart from hubby on those days as well. Ugh! I know I just have to stop and breathe so that is what I am doing. I am just catching my breath so I can refocus and move forward once again.

I am pretty sure that 2013 will bring wonderful things and I have that to look forward to. I am blessed with wonderful friends, a son that always knows how to make me smile and an amazing husband! With that being said, I will take that breath and get right back up! This hiatus is officially over!

See you soon,

Judie

{Anytime} Anna M.

It's not often that I have my picture taken, in fact, the last time I had professional photos taken of me was for my wedding last April. Between my full time job and and my part time photography business, I am never in front of a camera unless of course it's with my point and shoot while on vacation. With that being said, my friend Anna of Volovique Photography thought it would be a great idea if a few photographers got together for a quick shoot out in Brooklyn Bridge Park. We would take pictures of each other so that we can use it to update our websites!

Here are my photos of Anna!

Until next time!

Judie

He's Here! Let me introduce you to August Manuel

My fabulously gorgeous cousin and her hubby finally welcomed their angel August Manuel on July 17th and he weighed a whopping 9lbs 8oz! They have completely fallen in love and how can you not? This boy is such a cutie pie. It has been quite the journey for both Mali and Jimmy and in the end, the struggle was well worth it. We are all blessed by his presense.

Since Mali and Jimmy were going to be in TN for two weeks, I decided to take a quick trip to Baneberry to visit the little guy there. My gosh is there a lot to see in Tennessee....that will be a whole other post but anyways... In the two days I was there I was smitten by this little guy. After spending time with him I decided to give him the knick name "King August" because well, he is a King! Ha! King August....I love the sound of it. Meet the little boy who has stolen our hearts :-)

























Yep, he was pretty much done posing for photos by this time...lol.

I definitely did get my fill of quality time with King August but my visit was too short so I will make up for it when I see him in two weeks..hehehe. Until next time!