Last Monday, I briefly mentioned a particularly difficult phase of dream-chasing: the tear-streaked, anxiety-filled, doubt-fueled phase of not-enough-sleep.

I know, I really know—it’s a tough phase to be in. And there are probably many of you reading this right now who have thought recently “do I even want my dream badly enough to doing all of this!?”

I remember when Friday was the best day of the week. The anticipation of a full weekend of freedom ahead of you was almost like Christmas Eve, and it felt like Monday was ages away. 

But you know why I used to crave Fridays and dread Mondays? Because…

A dear friend recently gave me some fantastic relationship advice that is SO beautifully simple, but it had just never occurred to me until she said it…

I was listening to Rob Bell’s podcast (“The RobCast”) this weekend, and one of his latest episodes is called “Seasons.” And it’s about, you guessed it–navigating the changing seasons of life. Specifically the necessity of grieving the passing of a season, even during positive changes in your life. He said that even when a really wonderful new season is beginning, it still means that we have to say goodbye to an old season–and as humans, that causes feelings of grief that need to be processed in order to be fully present and appreciative in the new season.

It was a perfectly timed episode, because this week is one of those season-changing periods in my life, and I’m feeling all sorts of mixed emotions about it.

Hello, sweet friends! I Every now and then I share fun facts about myself over on Instagram (you can follow me here!), and I thought it might be fun to do a round up of some of those facts here on the blog!

Hey, sweet dreamers out there. Are you sitting in a cubicle under fluorescent lights? Are you desperately wishing you were anywhere else? Are you just glad it’s Friday because the weekend means you’ll have time to work on your side hustle? Are you swallowing the anxiety of not knowing whether you’ll ever make your dream job a reality?

If you are, then I want to tell you something super important…

Two years ago I stopped making New Year’s resolutions. I’ve never kept a resolution more than a couple of days, and I realized that it was such a bummer to begin the year feeling like I had failed. So instead of making resolutions, I started making goals. With just this small change in wording, I’m setting myself up with an entire year to push towards accomplishing the goals I’ve chosen. A whole year!! That’s oodles of time, and it makes both the big goals and small goals feel so much more attainable. For the last two years, I’ve spent the morning of New Year’s Day at Gallery Espresso with just my journal, a pen, and a hot cup of coffee (and let’s be honest, a bagel loaded with cream cheese, because I’ve got a whole year to accomplish any health-related goals, right? Right. :P). I spend time reading back through last year’s goals, celebrating what I’ve accomplished by checking them off the list, and then carefully re-evaluating any goals I didn’t accomplish. I don’t beat myself up for missing goals–instead, I truly consider why I didn’t accomplish them. Was it something out of my control? Was it just not the right timing? Is there something I could do differently next year to make it happen? Or should I just take it off the list altogether? Once I’ve mentally applauded myself for what I did check off the list, and kindly considered why I didn’t quite accomplish the remaining items, I make a new list of goals for the coming year.

Most of you know that for the entire time I’ve been a photographer, I’ve always also had a full-time job that had nothing to do with photography. I’ve worked at a biotech company and an art and design college in their communications departments, and I actually have an English degree from the University of Florida. Photography has been my part-time, midnight hustle for what feels like my whole life… I was 22 when I bought my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel XT.

The number of times I’ve written the first sentence of this blog post and then deleted it is bordering on ridiculous. But what-oh-what do I even say about something as epic as reaching the anniversary of my first year of Apt. B Photography?? What words could do justice to this past year? It feels like yesterday that I decided to rebrand my business. To reinvigorate it. To put myself out there in the biggest way possible and actually make my dream job happen. It was just a year ago that I was carrying around a notebook filled with names for my business that just weren’t quite right. I can still remember so clearly the punch-in-the-gut, goosebumps-all-over, that’s-the-ONE feeling I got when “Apt. B Photography” finally came to me. I can still taste the excitement on the day I sent my inspiration board to my designer, so ready to see my business’ brand come to life. I swear I was just yesterday sitting in my apartment struggling with my website, unsure if it would ever be ready to launch, and scared that even when it did launch, no one would contact me

The Apt. B family might make my heart burst today. Ya’ll are just the best. The Apt. B Facebook page hit 1,000 likes today, and while that might be a drop in the bucket for some, it’s a cup overflowing for me. I’m feeling all the feels right now, so I warn you now that this is a sappy, from-the-heart kind of post. When I officially re-launched my business as Apt. B Photography back in August, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew where I wanted to push my business, but I couldn’t have even guessed what the second half of 2014 would have in store for me. From shooting Southbound Brewing Company’sfirst wedding reception to shooting a destination wedding in St. Augustine on New Year’s Eve, I couldn’t have asked for cooler opportunities or sweeter clients.