Ever since we finally got all settled in our apt here in the triangle, we have been feverishly making plans for the future. We just cant be settled yet. I guess we are simply planners and goal setters. Conversation after conversation led us to the conclusion that we would go for opening up our own business in January.

drum roll please

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WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

That gives us 7 months to get on the ball. We have to decide where we want to launch this bad boy, where we want to live, a name for the business, logo, personality, branding, and everything else that goes along with it. I want to do this right, straight out of the starting line.

To prepare, i have been interning under the phenomenal Tracy Turpen. Her work is banana’s, as you will surely discover if you hit up her website and/or blog. No really. She will blow your socks off. I have already been to 3 weddings in this position and I am LOVING it. There is just something about a bride. I dont know what it is yet, but i have been teary eyed at each one so far. It’s hard to describe how blessed i feel to be working with her. I have been a huge fan of hers for at least 2 years now. Dan and I talked about how ridiculously perfect it would be if i could only learn from her. We dreamed about it the whole kayak trip even though she never announced the possibility of having an intern. It felt like fate when she made the announcement 2 weeks before we landed in Key West. Applying for it was my only motive when we got home. . and, like a gift from God, i got it! It’s a lot of work but it’s going to be so worth it. It already is. We’re going to rock this!

Suggestions for names for the photography business are gladly accepted. Dan and I are really excited.. obviously.

Ideas as of right now include: d&b, d&b imagery, daniel rose photography, in cahoots photography (with an owl as the logo), daniel gray photography, bethany gray photography… and so on.

Thank you God for spring.

in the old north church

Originally uploaded by bpmuzik

Our apartment is almost completely packed up. Our kayaking gear is almost completely packed up. We are almost completely ready to go.

Today is our last sunday at Missio Dei. Our pastor is back from Ethiopia with his 2 new kids he adopted there. Today is their first sunday. I like that. Im so glad that we get to meet them before we leave. The facebook photos of them are crushingly adorable. God Bless them and their new family of… 8!

Ive been SUPER emotional these past few days. I know that I am getting very very overwhelmed. Theres so much to this. First and foremost of course is the anxiety of the trip, of which i am almost completely exhausted of laboring about that i wont do it here. Other than that, we are moving, becoming “homeless again” and most challenging of all… leaving friends. I just need to get going with this thing and stop thinking about it. I really had a hard time here in Maine but I will miss it. It’s a weird thing.

Hope you are all doing well and good. I will leave you with this video I took in the Old North Church in Boston a few weeks ago. It’s music, a choir singing, and its beautiful. Close your eyes and listen… perhaps even worship the Lord who created this world filed with more beauty than you can possibly enjoy in one lifetime.

2. I think that relationships are the MOST important thing in the whole world and i will put anything and everything off in order to build them. That being said, other than my family, the only relationship that i feel proud of in it’s success is the one i have with my husband. Everything else has either failed miserably or faded away, or simply remains at a “pretty good friends” level and never gets much further. i hate that.

3. My grandpa had a stroke a few years back and since then i have felt like the worst granddaughter in the world. I don’t have the compassion i need to remain normal around him. I almost ignore that it ever happened and just talk to Nana instead.

4. I wish that I could have a big cat as a pet. Big as in Tiger.

5. Oranges, Apples, Kiwis, Bananas, Milk, Ice Cream, Carrots and other seemingly not-so-bad foods, make me sick. 9 times outta 10.

6. Music makes me cry. I friggin love it.

7. Not being in NC has make me miss the state way more than i expected to. I really really miss it. Not Raleigh, but NC itself, as a whole.

8. I adore photography but i know nothing about it. Im working to change that but i believe my self-esteem will always be pretty low on that front.

9. I don’t love kayaking. I love the feeling i get at the end of a kayaking day. There’s a difference.

10. I love to read books about Jesus and God and the whole thing. I love the start doctrinal books, and the emotive books, and the opinion books, and pretty much all of it. I love it.

11. I used to bite my nails. I stopped, cold turkey, when i fell in Love with Dan. I believe that means something.

12. I am bitter and un-forgiving.

13. I love the way i feel after I work out, but I rarely do. I DO NOT like the way i look when i work out. My face gets extremely red and my mouth hangs slightly open, which i find very unattractive.

14. When I look back on my childhood, i realize that i had it made and my parents rocked.

15. I love tv. I love movies. I love the internet. I think it’s stealing my life away though.

16. I think that my diamond ring is pretty much one of the prettiest diamond rings i have ever seen. I love it.

17. I miss being in band. I miss being a part of a musical happening. I miss the music all around me. The ECU symphonic band was one of the most heart-pumping intelligent, musicianship filled ensembles I have ever been a part of and I didnt realize it while i was there. I totally missed it.

18. I love being married. I don’t understand why every other married couple isnt bouncing off the walls with happiness too. Some are but the major majority isnt. I think thats weird.

19. I voted for Kerry almost entirely because Matt Bivins told me too at a show. I think that I was a lame person back in the Jump Little Children days and I wish I could take that vote back simply because it had nothing to do with what i really thought.

20. I love casual comphy clothing and would live in PJ’s if i could. That said, I really wish I was fashionable.

21. I want to live in so many places in the world. Not just visit, but live.

22. If i dont get to Ireland before I die, i will have failed at my dreams.

23. When i have children, I want to have twins. I know it is not something i have any real power over but it is one of the desires of my heart.

24. It bewilders me when people dont believe there is a God. I know that religion bogs things downs, but how could this earth be so amazing, so intricate, so beautiful, without the possibility even, of a creator… its so much more beautiful to believe than to not.

25. I want to become someone that people will always remember and think of with a smile on their faces.