#30 DOT Catch-up - My Path to Photography

I've been slacking on the 30 Days of Thankfulness. Let's play catch-up. Here's a little story for you. (I apologize in advance for the long-winded-ness... I have my Great-Grandmother's trait of taking 4 hours to tell a 5 minute story).

We had just graduated from LSU. Newlyweds. Ready to conquer the world. I had two choices -- get a job, or continue on to graduate school. I chose to take a break from school and decide my future career path. If I continued with psychology, I'd have to at least attend graduate school in order to get a job in the field. Jobs that only required a bachelors in psychology also required experience in the field. Over 30 job applications, 6 months, and 4 interviews later, I had two jobs. Two. One was with Woodmen of the World (which I shared with my mom and grandfather), and one was with Baton Rouge Lutheran School.

Little did I know that both would be completely soul-fulfilling and lead me to where I am today.

I learned life lessons from my Grandfather during my time shadowing him as a Field Rep.  Organizational skills and time management from my Mom on the same job.
A new-found love of teaching from BRLS.
Life-long friends along the way who push me to be a better person.

I am thankful for Mr. Bob and Mr. Schamber who each hired me and gave me a chance to shine.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a teaching assistant to Mrs. Jennifer Lotz. It was great coming up with art projects for the children to decorate the classroom with or to give to parents as gifts. I love art projects! I also supervised the advanced reader group from the 1st grade class. It reminded me of my Gifted classes when I was in school.

I only worked at the school for one school year. While driving to the school the last day before Christmas break, I hydroplaned on the interstate and launched my MX-5 into the woods. Needless to say, that scared me. It was hard to drive across the Atchafalaya after that. It took me a couple of weeks before even driving back across that stretch of interstate again. I still hold my breath in that stretch. I've seen many vehicles off the road there. Now there's a 'slippery' sign.

I walked away from that wreck bruised and shaken, but not hurt. I definitely had a couple of guardian angels. My car did not fare so well.

It broke my heart to not return to the school the next year.

That summer, I debated going through a program for becoming a teacher if you already had a bachelors degree. I put it off for another year to pursue Woodmen more and spend more time with my mom and grandfather.

A decision I would not regret.

I lost my Grandfather that October.

And my Dad the following August.

Mrs. Lotz had moved to Texas after teaching at BRLS for one more year after I left. I missed our days together. Her friendship has changed my life more than she knows.

The summer of 2009, we visited the Lotz's and stayed with them in Texas. We only stayed with them a week, but that week would pave the way for my photography business.

My wonderful husband gifted me my first DSLR the Christmas before that summer. It became an appendage. I took it everywhere. I had always enjoyed photography and loved film cameras, but this was different. I set the dial to 'M' and enjoyed changing the settings to learn how they all fit together. I documented everything. Life. Memories. Family.

During our time with the Lotz family, I followed around the boys like I was the paparazzi. No, I don't consider those my best images. I was still learning. But I realized I really enjoyed capturing memories for others. Their golf practice in the front yard with Dad. Their baseball ceremony. Their dog.

I officially started my photography business a little over a year later. After many more hours of practice, a few classes at ULL, and continually bringing my camera everywhere. Everywhere.

I continue to grow as a photographer every day. All photographer's do. It's the nature of the business. If you quit growing, so will your business.

I still bring my camera everywhere.

I know I haven't told Jennifer thank  you enough. Thank you for allowing me to be your TA. Thank you for pushing me to be a better person. Thank you for leading by example. Thank you for letting me into your life as a friend. Thank you for that week in Texas with your gorgeous family. I thank God for you every day. Your friendship, your heart, your family.

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