It's been a long time since I hit the {personal} blogging circuit. Almost a year and a half since I got married, and while I've still been blogging, it's been focused almost entirely on the photography blog and partially on another blog. You could say that I've had bigger things on my mind.
Hey look, our coffee cups are kissing!
Coffee date, February 2013
Life has changed and yet remained the same. It's been a blur of delight and hard work and time spent with my husband and time spent studying in the Bible and talking and praying and maturing and working hard and playing hard and staying home alot.
What's been going on? In the meantime...
- I turned 29 and then 30! Ohmy, ohmy. ;)
- We went on a great coffee adventure.
- We discovered Dave Ramsey and the power of sticking to your budget.
- Our first (and then 2nd) Christmas together.
- Had our first New Year's Eve where we could kiss at midnight (we weren't even DATING, or within a hundred miles of each other in 2010!)... and I was shooting a wedding in 2011, so the kiss got delayed a little bit. New Year's Eve 2012 rocked though.
- Discovered what the 'newlywed ten' or rather 'newlywed twenty' is. Hey, we like food {just look at my instagram feed). And we like snuggling instead of working out. Now we're working on both.
- Shooting more weddings than ever. Now with my trusty assistant/husband. He's got an eye for classy photos.
- Our regular day jobs "happen" to be 2 blocks apart. We commute together every day. It. is. awesome.
- COLLEGE. Yes, after a year of marriage and Brandon establishing residency in PA, he's back at college pursuing his degree in petroleum & natural gas engineering. While he works full-time. My husband is amazing. He's intense, focused, humble, smart and he doesn't complain about spending (almost) every night studying until 2:00 am. So yes, life is good, busy, fulfilling, intense and a dream come true.
I was in the shower last week... thinking and praying, because sometimes I do that in the shower. And felt the whisper of the Spirit saying, "You are not called to be a brand; you are called to be a voice." This probably means nothing to you, but it means quite a bit to me. Considering that I've spent the last few years of my life watching the photography industry and working to infuse my personality into my work, because hey, that's what sets you apart as a photographer, right? While I have always said that my identity is found in Christ, not in what I do {taking photos}, I found it difficult to show an authentic online identity... because my blog is a photography blog. It's business, not personal. And as much as the photography industry wants to combine the two, sometimes it's not prudent or convenient.
The subject of authenticity had been on my mind for a week or so before. The idea of being real, being honest when it is uncomfortable, having a conviction when it is unpopular, being "spice" rather than "vanilla." Now I don't go seeking out controversy (though I might have done that as an overzealous teenager), and if it could be avoided, I would gladly do so. But I have this thing. This thing that God put within me, this desire for justice, this defense of righteousness, this love of truth. I cannot stand by and let evil win, especially when it is cloaked in the guise of religion and the Bible's commands. I cannot be silent, even at the expense of my own relationships with family or friends. I cannot give in or back down or give up.
All that to say, welcome back to my personal blog. There is no theme for this blog, except chronicling the adventures of Brandon & Naomi from my perspective. There might be pictures, there might be the infamous "wall of text", there might recipes and home projects and spiritual stuff and theology, ramblings about worship, weekends in review (love those!), there might be stories about being married during college, what we're learning about finances and the Bible and family life. This is me. For real.
If you're still here, if you're still reading and plan to continue... leave me a comment!
And keep reading, because this blog is gonna get nice little facelift and I'm excited to share LIFE with you.
