New house.

New workspace.

New blog.

Same vibe…just more fresh :)

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xo
cj

I was immediately struck by Heather and Jason’s friendliness, enthusiasm and charisma and two days later, I received an e-mail from them inquiring about my availability for their June wedding in Whistler. I love Whistler…holllaaa! A couple of weeks after e-mailing back and forth, they traveled here to Victoria to meet with me and at the end of our awesome chat, I knew they were ‘my couple’. The kind of couple that truly understands me. Respects me as an artist. Values my work. Completely trusts me.

Needless to say, I was really looking forward to their engagement session. I knew it would be fun and relaxed. In fact, I felt so great after our time together that I jokingly said that I would be taking a drag on a cigarette right then and there…if I smoked! Haha! What it really must have been was all those endorphins swimming through my bloodstream after all the laughing I did during the shoot :)

Anyway, I already know that Heather & Jason’s wedding is going to be off the hook so keep your eyes peeled for their wedding images in the near future!

I wanted to say “where vampires are from” but I didn’t dare say it for fear of possibly offending him…or just sounding plain stupid. He nodded his head as if he knew what I was going to say. Then I just burst out laughing. Then Sharon laughed too. Then I told Gilbert his coolness factor went up by 100% because really…who comes from Transylvania?!? That’s just really…cool!! Then he laughed. Then Sharon told me that when their friends drop by to visit with them, they have to get all their vampire jokes and such off their chests. Hilarious!! We all laughed some more. I’m actually laughing to myself right now just thinking about it all!

We walked around downtown and continued to chat it up and the time just flew by. Before I knew it, we were hugging and saying goodbye. Luckily for me, I get to hang out with these two wonderful people again when they get married next month!

Here are a few shots from our time together…

Dane Sanders roused the crowd with his motivational talk about being ‘all in’; about committing wholeheartedly. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that I commit myself 100% to my work and all the great people I work with, but I also acknowledge the fact that I can always do better. I want to do better. I realize so much more how important it is to be ‘all in’ not only in my professional life, but also my personal life. Opportunity passes us, but only if we allow it to.

Marketing guru, Mitche Graf, gave a great talk that included a lot of marketing tips punched with videos to provide some comic relief that got the crowd releasing laughter-induced endorphins. Laughter is so so good, and I implore you to do as much of it as you can in your daily existence. I consider myself fortunate to be partnered in life with a husband who never ceases to make me laugh daily. Laughter is nourishment.

While I appreciated having several good laughs during Mitche’s talk, one major thing that resonated with me were the ideas of working smarter and making time to truly enjoy life. Of course, we all recognize the importance of working efficiently and taking time out to rest and relax, but how many of us actually use our time well and enjoy quality time with our loved ones? I can honestly say that I’ve gotten better over the years at managing my time and balancing my professional and personal life, but I can also honestly say that I, too, have to check myself once in a while. I know a lot of you work all day, stay up late, don’t get to bed with your spouses all the time, don’t exercise, and make a ton of excuses as to why you can’t take time off. But ask yourself…is it worth it?

Try setting regular work hours, devote time to exercising your body, take that vacation you’ve been wanting to take, and snuggle in bed with your spouse and read/laugh/do crossword puzzles together. Trust me…find balance in your life and watch how it affects your overall well being.

Speaking of balance and time management brings me to the topic of social media. We all use and love it, but are we spending copious amounts of time tweeting on Twitter, playing Farmville on Facebook, and watching endless Youtube videos? Yes, we are. Often times, we’re spending time that we don’t really have. I’m willing to bet that many of you out there lose hours in a day and sometimes even some sleep because you’re managing your online social life. Remember…less time online = more time in life. I have to remind myself of that every now and then.

At the same time, never before have we been more connected as a people with the help of the internet. My friends, Miranda and Reilly Leivers of Blue Olive Photography, spoke about how using social media can help us in our lives and businesses. They’re definitely on top of it and know what they’re talking about, impressing us even further by shooting the crowd and wirelessly uploading the images to Flickr. Technology is straight up crazy nowadays isn’t it?!? Hollaaa!!

Last but not least, the charismatic, Jasmine Star, preached to us about the merits of branding your online presence. She preached as if she were in cha-urch (not just regular church) and people often threw up their hands enthusiastically while proclaiming ‘Amen’! Jasmine puts herself out there for the world to meet and greet, and in the process of doing so, attracts exactly the kind of clients that she desires to work with. More than anything, I felt her heart and passion shine through and I was surprised to feel connected with Jasmine in a way I completely didn’t expect as her sense of humour and laughter reminded me so much of my sister. Then and there, I realized just how important it is for us to not be afraid to be our authentic selves and throw it out there for the world to either like it, love it, or leave it.

At the end of the three days, I felt moved and inspired. I think it’s just what I needed. I’m happy to have met a lot of my online friends in person…the love and acceptance I felt was incredible. It was also great to see a few of my old friends. I promise that I would see you all more often if there was a stretch of highway bridging the gap between here and there!

I leave you with a photo from a recent engagement session. This Vancouver couple caught the ferry and met me here in Victoria for a couple of hours, only to head right on back to the Mainland later that evening. Thank you Sharon & Gilbert!! *hugs*