Today was the Christmas Pageant at my sisters church so Matt and I went and sat in the balcony, sang some Christmas carols and acted as photography snipers looking for some shots of the event. This year Hailey and Riley were both in it and I think they spent more time chatting with each other than acting Angelic:) Thats the little angels in the center of the stage sitting down listening to the story
This was Riley's first time in anything like this so we got alot of this:
But they both looked super cute...
There are times as a photographer when you know you just got it - that picture that you think sums up the day. After I shot this Matt and I both looked at it and said this was the one. Riley running with her angel wings just summed up the morning.
We are getting a pretty big ice storm here today. I am without power and heat and CMP is telling us to prepare for at least one night without power :( I am headed home soon to start draining my pipes.
The church fair is this Saturday... I will be selling homemade dill pickles and some strawberry jam! Here's hoping we make a ton of money for the church!
I posted some of the images from our Chicago trip in a slide show you can view here
These are just Chicago and I left out Milwaukee because there was some
great architectural photography there that I want to put into a
separate show. The show has music so adjust your volume accordingly! Of course the
pictures may not mean much without me telling you what they all are but
my photo album will have all of that at some point
In any case enjoy!
If you must constantly coax, cajole, and ultimately bribe your dog to obey the simplest command, you're lacking in leadership. The sit-stay command, properly taught, can single-handedly reverse this unfortunate situation.
The dog is taking over my life, as is the renovation and I am letting some important things suffer and no I don't mean the photography business.
I have lots of images to go through.. but here is one Matty took of me our first day there at Navy Pier!
YAY! I love Matty! He did a great job!
when I handed it over I asked the woman to make sure my vote counted.. I didn't want to be disenfranchised. She was a sweet little old lady of about 90 and I don't think she found me funny.... I like in a pretty white bread area so we don't run that risk here..but she looked a bit shady!
I am back from vacation and if there is one thing I am taking away from this trip is that I can not be that busy again - the busy that I was before I went to Chicago - the so busy I ordered out most nights because I didn't have time to cook.
I am a believer of outsourcing stuff in my photography business that I am just not good at - which is why I have an accountant for my taxes and why I use a professional designer for my logo... I got to thinking on my trip that I might use that same philosophy on my life.
When I came back I read Wendy's blog post about Erin, and I would agree Erin does a TON TON TON of stuff... but where does she get all the time? And if she can do all of that then how come I can't do my piddly 2 jobs??? I mean we are all busy right? We all say it but how many of us really are? Or how many of us have looked at what it means to be busy!
But before I made any decisions I decided to take a look at my life and where the hours go - I made the small chart below! I found it helpful to clarify where my time is going, and it also affirmed to me that I actually do run out of time each week and its not just my poor planning! I don't actually have a shoot every week year round but for the past 2 months I have - so more often than not I am out of time.
| 168 | |
| Sleeping | 56 |
| Day Job | 40 |
| Commute | 15 |
| Church | 4 |
| Hygiene | 7 |
| Meals and Meal Prep | 14 |
| Time with Matt | 8 |
| Cleaning/Laundry | 5.25 |
| Errands | 4 |
| Gym | 5 |
| Photography Business | 8 |
| Photography Shoot | 8 |
| Total w/shoot | 174.25 |
| Total w/o shoot | 166.25 |
So what do I do with this information? Well first I had to look at the priorities in my life and they go something like this:
- Day Job (so I can pay bills)
- Audra Bayette, photographer
- Church
- Matty/Relationships/Family
- Weight Watchers
- Gym
- Sleeping
So as you can see working is pretty high up there, followed closely behind my relationships with God and family and Matty!
So I took at look at my priorities against where I was spending my time and realized that
1. When it comes to relationships I have time in there for Matt but not for anyone else! I haven't had dinner with friends in quite a while and that doesn't seem right.
2. I have to keep a day job and I am not giving up the photography that I am passionate about.
3. Sleeping is low on my list yet gets the most of my time... I wish I could do with less sleep.
So OK... really what I need here is more down time for me (notice how there was no fun in that list) and more time with friends and family. Outsourcing part of my life is the way to get that! I can give up things like grocery shopping and running errands and free up a bit of time! Look at my time schedule post outsource
| 168 | |
| Sleeping | 56 |
| Day Job | 40 |
| Commute | 15 |
| Church | 4 |
| Hygiene | 7 |
| Meals and Meal Prep | 10 |
| Time with Matt | 8 |
| Cleaning/Laundry | 1.25 |
| Errands | 0 |
| Gym | 5 |
| Photography Business | 8 |
| Photography Shoot | 8 |
| Total w/shoot | 162.25 |
| Total w/o shoot | 154.25 |
Sure it only gives me and extra 6 hours on a week with a shoot and an extra 16 on a week without - but that's enough time for me to catch a nap on weekends, have dinner with some friends and catch a cuddle with the girls... its a step in the right direction and I don't have to feel again like I felt before Chicago.
I actually wish we all lived in a commune and split up chores and such... I think it would make for more creative time for all but I have never been able to convince my sisters its a good idea.
I thought this was an interesting exercise... do you know where all your time goes? If you put this list together would you feel things were going in the right place?
But I have been so busy working with next years brides, setting up new clients, working on engagement session and just generally trying to get caught up over there that I haven't been over here. You can always check my photography blog if you are wondering if I am still alive:)
But in the meantime let me catch you up on a few things!
NEW JOB!
I have taken a new job at my current day employer - I am now a web producer for an external facing website we sell to clients. I am responsible for new site design and development website strategy and vision and post launch management. I AM VERY VERY EXCITED. I can't even tell you how excited I am. Mainly because this job is at a whole different level at my company - I play closer to the big dogs, not so many rules, I do my job and am held accountable for the work, and I get closer to the creative space which I have been missing!
NILMDTS:
I shot my first session for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep - a photography volunteer service that provides bereavement photography for parents whose child has died at childbirth or shortly after. Everyone at the organization does amazing work and I found the session much more powerful than sad. It was sad but it also felt good to know that I could use my talents to give parents back a piece of what they had lost. My friend thought I might just be in shock because I handled it so well, but I just keep thinking of the good I can do and I march forward.
Gift and Anniversaries
Matty continues to shower me with gifts and I continue to slack. For our 8 month he gave me a bronze boot tray which we desperately needed. He also gave me another copper pot that matches the one he gave me a few weeks ago - which I didn't blog about either - blech I suck! I may try to snap a few images of all my recent gifts this weekend! Matty is away on vacation and won't be back til Sunday! I miss him but he says he is having a good time!
Renovation:
It continues. As of right now I still don't have heat in this house. Its 75% installed, we have to run water into the pipes and then insulate - but the insulation won't be in for a week so I figure by the time I get back from Chicago I will have heat (good lord I hope so). I am ALWAYS cold, could my vegan lifestyle and lack of iron but I am taking some supplements. In the meantime I wear 3 layers and a hat to bed HA!
Aside from that I have been super super super busy with the business, working with clients, editing and proofing, building albums and getting business for next year! I am loving it but ready for my vacation in Chicago at the end of October!
ROCK !
super cool old school....
