Chunky silver Jewelry is me. Silpada is my favorite, but I LOVE these rings my son and daughter made for me in jewelry class. My kids are EVERYTHING to me. Lots more than chunky silver jewelry or even photography. They are my world.
I always wear this bear necklace from Vail. I am almost never without it. There is actually a whole blog post about it here. Vail, and especially Colorado, is me. The changing seasons, the beauty of the state, the great weather (except for the cold) and wide open blue skies. I've lived here pretty much since I was ten and although warmer climates sometimes call, right now I'm staying put.
Christmas brought me these Coach Tennie's. Totally me. I am a casual free spirit kind of girl but with a little upscale twist. Freepeople meets Chanel if you will. More Freepeople than Chanel though. That's me.
I am messy and disorganized at times. I am a procrastinator. I love to eat, especially chocolate! I am and have always been creative. I constantly struggle with my weight. I find beauty in everything and everyone. I LOVE to sleep! I constantly work to better myself. Reading and learning is my life and will always be. Travel anywhere and everywhere is paramount. I'm incredibly shy but you would never know it. It's taken years of work to fake it. I sometimes come off as stuck up, but I'm not. It's my insecurities showing through. I work hard to stay positive amid a genetic disposition toward depression. I always try to fit more in a day than is humanly possible. I'm a bit of a perfectionist...just a bit. I love to ice skate. I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill when I was little. I notice details. I cry at commercials and movies. I'm Italian...and Polish. I'm nice. Always. Well, almost always. I love my job. I love the beach. I'm a hopeless romantic. I'm a dreamer. I'm just me.
Now, you can quit here if you're bored and stop reading but if you're still interested here's a little history how I got into this career.
Art and books. Way back when I was about five, I was shy. Scared to death of people shy. Almost didn't pass 1st grade shy because I wouldn't speak up in class shy. Still am, to an extent. But, I could draw. My mom put me in a painting class with children years older than me. I loved that class. But my shyness and insecurities got the better of me and I left. However, drawing and then later when I could read, countless books, got me through grade school. The too tall, too skinny, glasses clad, girl that kept to herself, scared to talk to anyone.
Fast forward. Junior High. Still shy, but reading books and magazines on how not to be. I had almost given up art for academics when I got put in an art class by mistake and couldn't get out of it. I took art classes every semester the rest of junior high. And, won art awards. And some confidence.
High School. Seventeen and I got my first SLR camera. A Pentax K1000. High School photography classes were a blast, but dark rooms and film were so expensive! Academics were still a priority. I was going to be the first one of my family to go to college. I loved to write!
College. Choosing Journalism as a major at Colorado State, I had to take a lot of electives and took.....ART! Boy, was I in for a surprise when this naive, shy catholic girl took a figure drawing class and the first class the model shows up and drops her clothes to totally nude! I learned so much in that class! I did take a photography class in college. And, here's my little secret....I got one D my whole college career, and yep, you guessed it, in Photography. I was thinking of changing my major and that D killed every dream I had at the time.
Fast WAY forward and I'm an MWAC (mom with a camera, a somewhat derogatory term in the photo world) taking tons of pictures of my kids and teaching K-3 art in a charter school. I started taking pictures of the students for Christmas present projects and the 8th graders for the yearbook. After the yearbook pics, a few of the moms encouraged me to take senior pics of their older kids. A career was born......but not without much learning, growing and investment in time and equipment. My online friends at Props, an online photo forum, started me in the right direction.
Now over eight years later, here I am about to leave for my third Imaging after taking classes and seminars both online and in person for years. I'm still excited about it and feel like this is what I'm born to do after struggling for years with different careers. Every time I get frustrated and feel like the journey isn't worth it, something wonderful happens to show me that indeed I am on the right career path. I love my job! Thanks for making it to the end! See, I'm nice. ;)
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