I can NOT express to you my overjoy of seeing July end and August begin.  As a teacher, August is the evquivlant to a Sunday.  That dreaded feeling that your weekend is over – yea… that’s how teachers feel when they flip their calendar over to a new month – to August.  And please don’t get me started about the back to school supplies showing up before Fourth of July or the commercials that seem to start as soon as summer starts.

But the most glorious thing happened to me this summer, I didn’t run and hide under my bed when the seasonal section at stores transformed from grilling utensils and patio furniture, to pencils, notebooks, and binders.  I can walk through Target with a smile on my face, and watch tv with having to fast forward through commericals .

My joyous strolls through Target and boring commericial viewing is only TWO of my long list of favorite activites now that I’m a full time wedding photographer.  Here is just a fraction of things I’m enjoying now that my time is not divided

• Dinner with Joshua – almost every day.  I LOVE cooking for my husband.  It’s one of my favorite wifely duties and now that I’m full time I can make sure my husband who is an incredible provider has a full stomach when he goes to work
• No 6:30 alarms.  My alarm has transitioned from my cell photo to our 85 pound Rottweiler at 9:30.  Yes, I don’t wait up before 8 am.  That’s one of the many joys of being your own boss.
• YOGA PANTS!!!!  As much as I love wearing dress pants and a nice top I have LOVED wearing yoga pants six days a week and dress pants one day a week!
• Day Dates with Joshua.  Last week we woke up on a Monday, asked each other what we wanted to do, and decided we would go to the movies for a matinee.  If I was teaching, this would only be possible on breaks instead of any time during the week!
• READING!!  I’ve gone back to reading one book a month!  How I have missed this simple joy!  Lately, it’s been all business books, but this winter when my days aren’t spent in front of the computer editing or blogging, my personal list of books will be tackled!
• Mini Vacations/Vacations when we want!  When I taught, it was frowned upon to take time off during the school year for personal vacations.  If we wanted to go somewhere that required travel, we had to plan those trips around my school breaks.  Now, we just plan around weddings!  FREEDOM!!!!!
• Photography Workshops/Conferences – oh my bestill my heart!  The only thing stopping me now to attend any conference I want is MONEY?!?!?!  Are you FOR REAL?!?!  So it ain’t so!  I LOVE continuing my edution so this is pretty exciting for me.  I’ve had the travel bug itch for a while now and I can’t wait to travel for conferences and workshops!

I can’t wait to see how these next several months plan out.  As my teacher friends are headed back to the classroom with kids, i’ll head to my office to answer emails, write blog posts, and serve my Brides in a way that I have never been able to serve them before!  PRAISE JESUS!!!  GOD IS GOOD!