About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 2245 – Throw Back Thursday To Our Day One

Posted on September 3, 2015 by 365 days of marriage

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Photo by Shawna Sherrell Photography

Day 2244 – The Book That Changed My Business Forever

Posted on September 2, 2015 by 365 days of marriage

The process of deciding to stop photographing was a long one. The thought was in the back of my mind for a little while that maybe this photography thing wouldn’t work…no, the whole time I photographed…any small business owner can tell you that there is a LOT of time of doubting. Anyways, I started reading a book last summer that started my journey towards closing the photography side of my business, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (affiliate link on Amazon. This means if you purchase the book or anything else on Amazon, I get a small percentage. I only share links to things I’ve used personally and recommend).

I’m rereading this right now and I realized that reading this book was the mind set shift that led to closing my photography business. The biggest thing I realized was that I was putting in 40-60+ hours of work to make the same amount of money I made while only photographing part time. It was crazy how consistent it was year to year. Friends, don’t make your business decisions based on feelings, please please please know your numbers. When I realized this, I stopped putting money into advertising – why spend when I was getting the same amount? By tracking my leads, I also knew that my paid advertising efforts were not bringing new clients. It was one of those “DUHHHH” moments for me. Stop wasting your money and time and spend it focusing on other things.

This realization led me down a road of really digging into “what do I love to do and what am I good at?” I realized I LOVED, adored, danced with joy about the business side of my business. Give me a spreadsheet to fill in and analyze or paperwork to be filed and dealt with and I am one happy camper. That realization led to what I do now – helping photographers with the business side of their business.

Friends, you will go through changes in your business. You will one day wake up and think “what have I done, have I wasted my life?” But you haven’t! You have gained experience and that will help you in your next venture. I never would have gotten the gigs I have right now if I wasn’t a photographer for ten years. I am able to do the things that I love because of walking through what I did the last ten years.

What book changed your life forever? (Doesn’t have to be a business book – any book!)

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Day 2243 – Just Jump

Posted on September 1, 2015 by 365 days of marriage

A month ago today, I was jumping out of an airplane. I wish that’s what I was doing today, for no bad reason like “oh my gosh, work is driving me crazy, I want to jump out of a plane!” But in a “THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED! (10 points to the one who knows the reference), I want to do it again! kinda way.

That was going to be the extent of my post today. I want to jump out of an airplane. But after I typed the title, I changed my mind.

Just jump. It’s great advice. There are lots of times when it’s just time to do something. Just. Jump. I think a lot of times we wait to do things because we want the perfect situation and scenario. I will write my book when I’m able to have 30 minutes a day to write by the pool. I will quit my job when I have 10 clients lined up with my side business. I will ask her to marry me when I get the promotion. Here’s the thing, you’re never going to have the perfect scenario. Here’s the other thing, there are multiple outcomes that can happen. When I was mentally preparing to jump out of the plane, I knew there were only two outcomes – I would jump and it would be awesome and I would be fine or I would jump and die/hurt myself. It was incredibly freeing. I think if we could get over the “what if I fail/they say no/whatever you’re afraid of” side of things, we could just jump.

So what about you? Why aren’t you “jumping out of the plane?”

DCIM100GOPRO

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Day 2242 – Unveiled Faces by Jennilyn – or – The Worst Business Name Ever

Posted on August 31, 2015 by 365 days of marriage

If you asked me what I regretted about my photography business, it would be the name. Unveiled Faces by Jennilyn does not say what I did. There is NOTHING about photography in there. I can’t tell you how many times I got “Oh! You do makeup?” when I told someone my business name. I did have a good story behind the name though. Unveiled Faces could refer to the veil of a bride. It referred to how people would say “I hate having my picture taken!” and then when they saw a picture I took say “That is the best picture ever taken of me.” We were trying to unveil God’s glory in every client. Something I think we did.

I’ve been struggling with my blog posts recently mostly because I feel like I have a TON to talk about but so little time to talk about it. I have long blog post ideas ranging from what my day looks like now working for other photographers, how I keep multiple clients (and my own personal stuff) straight, my responses to people who think I have it easy, I have ideas on a blog about making choices. Seriously, if I could just plug something into my head and have it spit out on the page, I’d have SO much content.

I was in a bit of the same situation today. It was a FANTASTIC day! My workdays have been getting progressively better and I’m loving that! Bret is back to teaching full time, the world now knows that I’m not longer a photographer (WHAT a weight off my chest! I’m terrible at keeping secrets!) and I’ve figured out the magic number of clients I need and the amount of hours each of them need. I’m getting in the groove of a nice daily schedule/workflow.

Anyways, after this awesome day, I was riding a high of productivity….and Dunkin Donuts iced coffee… To help myself calm down, I did a little journaling and reading scripture. I’m reading through 2 Corinthians right now and today I read the third chapter. My eyes filled with tears when I happened upon this verse:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

This was my business verse! I was struck by so many things in that moment but mostly the multi-level meanings. My business name meant so many things and I realized that my business verse had come to mean many things too. I feel that I am being transformed from the business owner I was when I created my business name to someone who is the same but different. So wherever you find yourself in your business or life today, realize that it’s ok if you’re totally different from who you were when you started. This life thing is a journey. How are you being transformed?

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