I Am Officially Counting Down...

Well there are 364 more days until I am 30 years old! I am entering now the last year of my twenties.... and wow what a difference from the first year of my twenties! What a decade it has been! One of these days I will sit down and recap the highs and lows of these last ten years, but for tonight I think I will simply keep it to a February month in review in the Swanson household.

We ended January on a somewhat sad note- we had to take Miss Ava- our German Shepard mix puppy- back to the animal shelter. She had growled at Madalyn one day for climbing on her, which I thought was a fluke, but then she snapped at her again... and I couldnt live with myself if the third time ended in my beautiful daughter getting bit. So we brought Ava back to the shelter, and Madalyn has asked for her a few times here and there and Allie definitely seems to miss her, but it was for the better I think in the end....

Madalyn is quite the chatterbox! From sun up until sun down she talks, talks, talks and you never know what is going to come out of her mouth! I have certainly become fluent in toddlerese that is for sure! Tonight while I was changing her diaper and putting her PJs on for bed (which is no small task these days- her PJs have names and we have to look for the right ones at night!) she asked me for her "cown" which I did not know what it was. Finally she grabbed her red sparkle headband from her shelf and put it on "like ella" (cinderella) She is a princess in training this one. I finally realized she wanted to wear it as a crown, and helped her put it on her head and that headband did not leave her head until she went to sleep. She certainly knows what she wants, this one.... and she is very into fashion, shoes, accessories.... she constantly is asking me to put a bow in her hair ("bow mommy, booooowwwwww....." or to put her shoes on for her.

Madalyn also just started gymnastics, and is the smallest and youngest one in her class but she LOVES it. Every week we go and do stretches and then she goes through an obstacle course that involves swinging from parallel bars and walking across a balance beam,then there is free time and bubble blowing. Of course.... bubble blowing. When I got Madalyn home from the first class I asked if she had fun and her answer was "bubbles!" On the way back the follwing week I told her we were going to gymnastics and she yelled "bubbles!" Hmmmm.... all this money for gymnastics lessons and I could get bubbles from the dollar store?!

We went home to Mom and Dad's so Shawn could lay some tile for them.... that was lots of fun. He worked hard, we shopped hard... and of course Madalyn was completely spoiled rotten! Their house looks amazing and is really coming along... which I am sure they would be glad for it to get put back together.

Other than that life is... well life. The business has kept me busy, and if you want to check out some recent shoots go to www.jlsphotoblog.com. I also launches a new site for my boudoir photography... www.jlsphotographystudio.com/boudoir. That aspect of my business, along with weddings surprisingly!, has kept me very very busy. I had a wedding last weekend (2/22) and a wedding next weekeng (3/7) then 3 in the month of April along with Madalyn's birthday party- which is April 5th so SAVE THE DATE!

Shawn is doing well.... he isnt working on Mondays now so that will become project day...

I guess that was somewhat of an update.... and I will post more of an update later on... but LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS! I spend most of my time blogging for the business now, which is why I have been slacking majorly over here, but if I know people are reading I will be better about posting.

And with that, I leave you with some quick snaps taken yesterday in our backyard. I am trying to master Adobe Lightroom, which is similar to Photoshop but seemingly WAY more in depth- but my birthday present to myself was a Scott Kelby book on it which I read while editing these... so ignore the DIRTY face but enjoy the photos! And Madalyn picked out that hat by the way.

And Shawn's birthday present to me.... a photoshoot with Madalyn. A REAL photoshoot, like I do for OTHER people... so soon I will have some nice pictures of MY kid- we are heading to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens towards sunset time if I have my way so we will see.

And heading my way this week is a NEW CAMERA! The one I have been drooling over for the last year! I packed up my Rebel Xti and some of my lenses and shipped them to Jenna (am I a nice sister or what!?!) in the anticipation of my new camera coming here. I currently have a Canon 40D which is pretty great itselt, but I have wanted the advantage of having a full frame sensor for a LONG time and had to save some pennies to afford it! I also purchased a 100 mm macro lens, so I will be sharing some macro photography on here as well.... I cant wait!

December Update

As an early Christmas present to me (well, really to keep Uncle Sam from getting as much tax money LOL) I recently picked up an awesome new lens to go with my awesome new camera! That's right... I have done well enough in 6 months with my business to be able to afford both a new camera (the 40D by Canon) and this new lens, which is an 85 mm 1.8 for all you camera people out there. The camera got here a week ago and I used it at the wedding I shot last weekend (check it out on my photo blog) The new lens came yesterday... and Madalyn wasnt loving me for wanting me to shoot her, so I practiced on the tree (finally! A willing subject in this house!) I am only wishing that I had this to do the tree pictures, but no such luck. Maybe next year....

Maddie is super excited about Santa... she sees him everywhere and points him out and says "ho ho" (hasnt added the third "ho" yet. For Christmas this year she wants Elmo Live (hint hint Santa Claus) and lots of books.

Only two more work days for me and then we are off to Cape Coral for Christmas at my parents...

Remember That Exciting News?

Remember that exciting news I mentioned back in early November? (Or maybe it was October, I honestly can't remember that far back!) Well... here is the BIG NEWS!

I WAS ASKED BY THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER TO BE A PRIZE FOR THEIR DECMEMBER CONTEST!!!

This is such a big opportunity for JLS Photography. Number one, it is an endorsement from the local paper which is HUGE when you are a small business trying to get off the ground.

For the next ten days or so whenever you log into the Gainesville Sun or Gainesville Moms you will see this month's contest: Win A Family Photoshoot! Myself and another Mom are both giving away a free session and various prints to the winners. There is a drawing December 13th to determine a winner.

I am so excited! If you want to register for a free shoot, head on over to Gainesvile Moms Contest to check it out.
All you have to do to enter is be a Gainesville Moms member, which is a benefit in and of itself. This site is GREAT for local parents to keep up with what is going on in the community and meet other parents.

Needless to say I am honored and excited to be a part of this contest.

I also got asked to join the local Chamber of Commerce. I meet with a woman next week sometime to discuss this.

I feel like my business has really taken off... thanks to all of you for your love and support!

Christmas Photos

On Black Friday Shawn, Madalyn and I met up with Jenna, Brad, Savannah and Landon in downtown Ocala for a Christmas photoshoot. I had bought the kids the matching outfits a few weeks earlier and was so excited to see them all dressed up.

Here is one of Madalyn, and check out the rest at JLS Photography's Blog.

Thanks for looking and leave me some comments!

Day 33: For Those of You....

For those of you who dont make it over to my photo blog here is what you are missing! Isnt she darling? I went to Jax last week to take her "newborn" photos (she is actually 10 weeks now). I had a lot of fun... it was a great little mommy get away for a few hours, and I had a lot of fun with this little darling's parents.

In other news.... GO GATORS! What a butt kicking! Woooo hoooo! We are watching the Texas/ Texas Tech game right now (when I say we I mean myself and Madalyn, who needs to be in bed, and Shawn who has fallen asleep on the couch.)

I have spent the majority of the afternoon designing a NEW and IMPROVED ordering site for my business... I am super excited about it, and if it proves effective it should cut down on my time by a great amount. YAY!

And I am still waiting to hear 100% on the exciting news... so stay tuned... but I will make an announcement soon.

And leave me some comments, okay? I know you are reading.... :)

Day 30: Getting Caught Up

I am exhausted but I am up trying to get some business related work done... I *may* have a big announcment on here related to a huge opportunity for my photography, but I am not going to say anything until I know more details.

And BTW when I say I have exciting news it doenst necessarily mean I am pregnant! (Ahem Jenna!) For the record I am not pregnant, and not planning to be pregnant any time soon!

Its been COLD outside today.... BRRRRRR!!! Our new insulation in the attic has helped tremendously... so far have only had to put on our little space heater. But we have had 2 consecutive nights in the 30s.... whew! Might have to rethink the Tinkerbell costume! :)

I am going to wrap this up.... I am extremely tired and got home not too long ago from Jacksonville... I drove there for a photoshoot today.

Day 22, 23, 24: I Am A Slacker

I admit it, I have been so busy juggling everything else that I have been slacking about posting in my personal blog! It never ceases to amaze me that I can be so constantly busy that I feel like I never get anything accomplished!

This morning I had some of my coworkers over for coffee and a constructive meeting to see how to address some of the major issues at work. If nothing else it served as a forum for me to see that I am not the only one having major issues with some of the things happening at work and the way we are treated by our administration. I have spoken with my supervisor who did my evaluation and he admits that my evaluation was a bit harsh (to say the least) and he was under the impression that my firefighter had been my subordinate for a year (which I had him for 12 weeks before the evaluations were due and thus should not have been judged on his performance entirely) We will be having a meeting next week to discuss some changes to my evaluation.

Madalyn is growing bigger every day... and even more vocal! She talks constantly and is never afraid to share what is on her mind! She has become very attached to me since Shawn went back to work and is now my little shadow every day, and she is always anxious to "help" around the house. I should take a picture now to show her when she is older how badly she wanted to be able to load the dishwasher and sweep the floor!

Shawn is linking work and comes home very tired and leaves much earlier than any human should have to be awake! But the extra income is a HUGE relief and it was nice to be able to go to the grocery store and buy enough food for a week instead of doing it day by day.

We are starting back on Dave Ramsey's money management plan on November 1st. The plan is amazing and works really well when you have things to pay off, and just shows you on paper where your money is going. We would like to be debt free sometime in the next year or so (except for our mortgage and the car payments.) So we will be sticking every penny into savings that we can.

My business is really taking off which is great, and I have lots of shoots booked! I went to Orlando last weekend for some shoots and am working on editing those right now. Check out my new blog jlsphotoblog.com for some photos, and please leave comments! I will be posting several old sessions in the next few days as I got behind waiting to get the new blog up and running!

Days 18 and 19

Im going to have to combine these two days. Instead of posting yesterday, I made a new and improved blog for JLS Photography! The new site is www.jlsphotoblog.com. It is still a work in progress, but please update your links to the new site. I will be posting quite a few sneak peeks on there in the days to come, so stay tuned! And please leave me a comment... I love reading them, and it means so much to me!

In other news, Shawn has survived 2 weeks at his new job! YAY! He really likes it, and it seems that there is a lot of room for advancement there, which is nice. And let me tell you how wonderful it was to get paid today knowing there was another check coming in next week.... SIGH OF RELIEF! We went to Sams tonight and bought all of the things we used to be able to stock up on but have been living without, or buying when needed. It was so wonderful.

We spent the evening hanging out with our neighbors which was nice.... and Madalyn and I had lots of fun today! We spent the early morning taking pictures of my friend Lorrie's expanding belly... she is due November 5th with baby #2. (Its a surprise for Daddy... Mommy already knows.) Her daughter Kaela is turning 2 in December, so Madalyn had a wonderful time playing with her! Then we went with Lorrie and Kaela to the park, where we met up with Julie, Ben and Rosemary to play fow awhile. The girls all had fun, and Ben fell asleep in his Baby Bjorn while the Mommies talked. Then Madalyn and I went to Weecycle to sell some of her clothes, then home to clean up the messy house. We had lots of fun.... its fun to spend days like that with my daughter.

Whew what a Friday!

Day 8: Doesnt It Make You Want Another?

I had a newborn shoot today, and Miss Lillian is the darling daughter of my first maternity session. She is two weeks old and was so cute... and I definitely got my baby fix for awhile! I got lots of cuddling and feeding time... I think Mom was happy for the break. And we got lots of cute photos! These are a few from the session... they are a little distorted because I tried to resize them for this blog template. But I wanted to share how absolutely darling this sleepy baby was.



And for more baby news, Im going to be an Aunt again! No, Jenna is NOT PREGNANT (at least not that I know of!) But my sister in law Casey is 9 weeks pregnant. She has had a rough time in the past with miscarriages in the first trimester, and has had several before 8 weeks so making it to 9 with this one is a good sign! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers over these next few weeks, as so far all signs point to a healthly baby for her and Jeff.

Playing Catchup

Whew! What a crazy couple of weeks.... and finally I have a bit of a breather. As of 1 pm today I am officially on vacation until NEXT SUNDAY! Wooo Hooo! Let me say, this is the most well deserved, much needed vacation of all time. I am actually going to squeeze in a few photoshoots tomorrow and Friday (okay you didnt expect me to do nothing did you?!) and the Saturday in the wee hours of the morning we are off to North Carolina for a week of frolicking in the mountains. (I dont know if we are going to frolick, but we are going to be away from Gainesville for a week with the family so thats all that matters.)

As for an update on life...

Madalyn- turns 16 months next Friday. I can't believe it! She is getting so big so fast... and has turned into quite a little busy bee. One of her favorite things to d is draw and color (and luckily she confines it to paper at this point in time!) She also loves to sing (ABCs is her favorite tune) and dance, and climb on anything and everything she possibly can. She loves to kiss (and even makes the "muah!" noise) and is incredibly cuddly. Every day with her is a new adventure. She is obsessed with shoes... and always points them out, tries to wear our shoes, or digs through her box of shoes to carry around with her. She will answer "yes" and "no" by shaking her head, and comes to get us when she wants her diaper changed. If you ask her if she needs a diaper she shakes her head yes and walks to her changing table, then points to it until you change her. I think we will be buying her a potty soon just to get the idea in her head.... and will probably start potty training her after Christmas if she seems ready.

Photography- has been incredibly successful! Check out my photo blog for some recent sessions. I also launched a brand new website for my company jls photography. I am really proud of my website, because I used a template and designed it by myself. So far I have been fairly successful with this, and had had several sessions of people who I didnt know before hand, and have gotten a lot of referrals by word of mouth. I have learned a lot about the business as well as the art form, and can see my work getting better each shoot that I do. I also have made enough money to support buying the equipment that I need, and there are many people lined up for the Fall which is also exciting.

Shawn and I are still working on the house.... so much work to do, it is overwhelming sometimes! Not going to even think about that though until I we are back from vacation....

I will post more later... I have a few pictures of Madalyn from gymnastics to post!

Maternity Photo Shoot

This past weekend I had my first maternity shoot... and had a lot of fun! This mommy to be was such a joy to photograph. Check out my photo blog for more from this shoot!

Well, I did it!

I have never in my life designed a whole website. Never. Once in my last class at St Leo I had to make part of one, but never one with multiple pages. And today I have completed and officially lauched www.jlsphotographystudio.com (see link on the right side of this page) This is extremely exciting for me... as I have finally gotten everything together to make something I love doing into something that I am going to do on a part time basis.

Here is where you come in. If you know anyone who would like photos taken, please tell them about me. I am only charging $25 for an hour shoot, $50 for two hours right now (May and June) This barely covers a sitter, gas and photoshop time but I want to get as many shoots under my belt as possible and build my portfolio. I would be honored to be able to take pictures of you and your family, and at the very least you will end up with some great photos to share with your family and friends.

Please let me know if you are interested in a photo session, and join me in celebrating the launch of my new website!

CHEERS! (Clink, clink!)